Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend
by shematite
Summary: Everything's over. The Pharaoh and the Millennium Items are gone, and everyone is trying to live their lives. However, living is hard when you know too much.
1. I'm So Much Older Than I Can Take

Hello everyone, and welcome to my third ever published fanfiction! :) This one is different than what I usually write for many reasons: it's going to be longer than a couple of chapters, and it's SCARY STUFF!!!11!!1!

Bakura: Whatever, Shem. You just wish you could write scary stuff.

Shem: *tears up* B-but Bakura...this story _is_ scary...*has idea* It has _you_ in it, therefore it's scary.

Yami: I don't think that's going to work, Shem. He's read ahead. He knows he hasn't actually shown up yet in anything you have written.

Shem: Oh...so he knows about...

Yami: Yep.

Shem: ...*runs away*

Yugi: Enjoy the fic!

* * *

**Chapter One - I Am So Much Older Than I Can Take**

After hanging up the phone, Ryou stood there for a few moments in his kitchen, staring at the plastic machine without really seeing it. The lights in the house blazed, illuminating every corner. He never turned them off anymore. Things had seemed great, last year. The spirits in the Millennium Items had been freed, and it had seemed that events would go back to normal, the way things were _supposed _to be. And they had.

Yet, Ryou knew that things would never be normal. He knew things now, things that could not be erased from his mind. Now he knew what truly horrible things waited in shadows. Darkness cloaked minds and hands that wanted nothing more than to make humanity suffer, even if just a little bit, even if just one young man alone in his house at night.

And now, this. Ryou slumped to the kitchen floor and wrapped his shaking arms around his legs. His father had been at an archeological dig along the Euphrates river and had suffered sunstroke. He was in the hospital now, and it seemed the heat affected his mind. He didn't seem to be in the least bit coherent, rambling on about "The Pharaoh" and blood in the sky. The man on the phone had relayed all this information to Ryou in a sickeningly sympathetic voice that made Ryou want to scream.

He swallowed, letting his head rest against his forearms. The loneliness made his stomach and arms ache. _Dad..._

The shrill ring of the telephone started Ryou from the daze he had slipped into. He stood and reached out to answer it, but stopped, frozen. Enough time had passed that he could see the rapidly setting sun out the kitchen window.

Terror ripped though Ryou's body as he dashed around the house, closing all the blinds and thick curtains. _I can't let the dark get in. I can't let the dark get in. I can't let the dark get in. I can't let the dark get in. I can't let the dark get in. I can't let..._

The phone stopped ringing.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Anzu hung up the phone and shook her head. "No answer at Ryou's house," she said sadly.

"Guess it's just the three of us, then," said Honda brightly. "What movie do we want to watch?" He looked through their movie selection as Anzu joined him.

"Something exciting!" Yugi called from the kitchen where he was popping popcorn.

It was the friends' first get-together of the summer, and Yugi couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Joey was off visiting Mai, Otogi was on vacation in Hawaii, Kaiba tried his best to avoid them, and now even Ryou wasn't bothering to answer his phone. The house felt strange and empty with only the three of them, Grandpa having gone to bed already. The movie started, and they munched their way through popcorn and candy. Honda had picked _Star Wars Episode IV_ to watch, and while they enjoyed watching the show, it was really just so that they could hang out together, enjoying each other's company, the comfort of being surrounded by friends.

Honda and Anzu left. Friendship is wonderful, but everyone has their own lives, their own homes and families.

Their own fears.

A year ago things were hard and frightening. Friends became enemies and acquaintances became unspeakable terrors. There was joy laced through the fear, however. Every moment was sharp, cutting into hearts with emotions that could bite and soothe. The days revolved between laughter and screams and smiles and freezing.

Those days were gone, now. The happiness he felt was soft, no longer sharp and desperate, stronger for the contrast of the danger they were always in. Yugi climbed upstairs in the dark, his hands feeling and habit guiding him to his room, where he changed into his pajamas but didn't yet climb in bed. He stood in the middle of the shadowed room, his eyes half closed so he could pretend to almost see a shape in the darkness that his mind knew wasn't there. _Yami..._

A whole year, and Yugi's chest still ached whenever he thought about his other self being gone. Yami no longer watched through his eyes as he went to school and played with friends. There was no one helping him Duel; he was standing on his own, strong, but terribly alone.

Night was the worst. Night was when everyone left. Friends have their own lives, their own homes and families, and Yugi could feel them slipping between the cracks in the sidewalk as he desperately snatched at them. Friends left, and it took everything in Yugi's power not to grab them, hold them close to him, force them to stay, because being alone was terrifying.

That's why, every night, in his room, Yugi could only keep breathing if he convinced himself that someone was there with him, just like before. Just like they had always been together.

"Mou hitori no boku?" Yugi whispered toward the shadow he willed to listen to him, to be there, to be his other self. "Yami, I hope you're doing okay. I'm still in that growth spurt; I'm almost as tall as Anzu, now. I'm taller than you." He smiled as he imagined Yami's expression on the shadow. "I know. Strange, isn't it? Jounochi is dating Mai, now. He really likes her alot, and it's funny to see him get so flustered and protective around her. Honda's not dating anyone right now. Anzu..." Yugi hesitated, his face growing slightly warmer. "Well, you know what I think abuot her. She really is amazing. Now I just have to work up the courage to tell her. What should I say to her, Yami?"

The sudden silence took Yugi by surprise, the breath catching in his throat. He'd really convinced himself he was talking to Yami, that time. He opened his eyes and looked into the shadows, seeing nothing that wasn't there yesterday, and the day before, and the day before...

Yugi reached up and covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the tears now streaming down his face from the laughing darkness that surrounded him. Knowing it was no use, he crawled into his bed and buried his face in his pillow, letting the tears overwhelm him, his sobs shaking his bed as he cried himself to sleep.

Alone.

* * *

Huzzah! Thank you tons, Neonn, for beta-ing even when your brain has been turned to mush by reading My Immortal.

Yami: *shudders* Worst...writing...ever known to mankind.

Shem: Good thing I have you as my muse on this story, right Yami?

Yami:...

Shem:...Right?

Yami: Sure.

Shem: Yay! *snuggles Yugi*

Yami: Um, I guess that means I'm safe for now. Dear readers, please review so Shem will stop smothering my Abiou. Thank you.


	2. Sad To Be All Alone In The World

Hooray! Four reviews in one day! I think we're off to a very good start. After finishing writing chapter six, I decided to celebrate by posting chapter two! Cookies for everyone!

**yamin0game - **Thank you! I'm glad you like the story so far. It's not so much that I think I'm a bad writer as I've never tried writing anything like this before, and I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

**pride1289 - **I think it needs more plot, too! I mean, seriously! How can we have a mystery story when there's no mystery? Why am I even writing this?

**KageNoNeko - **Sometimes I like to pretend that I also have an idea why this story is named _Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend_... then I'm reminded that I just had the song stuck in my head when I was writing the first chapter.

**Neonn - **Chillax, my friend. Just because you and I think nearly identically doesn't mean you have to tell everyone about it in your reviews. o.O Gosh, here I am trying to be all subtle and sneaky with my foreshadowing and you go giving stuff away. Maybe I should get the Almightly Elvin Hitokiri to keep you in check. Just teasing!

Also, Neonn, this chapter has your favorite scene in it! Nosferatu! The SPARKLES!!! I love Yugioh Abridged...

Before I forget (Because I forgot to put in any warnings last time except that this was a scary story, and you could guess that much from it being under "Horror/Mystery"):

Warning: This story will eventually contain **shounen-ai**, that means mild yaoi, mxm, boy on boy lovey dovey, but nothing more than maybe some hugging, making out, and _magical time skips_.

Warning to the Yaoi-Fangirls: This story also contains **HET!!!_ *gasp*_** That means that two people of opposite genders fall in love/make-out/whatever they want to do off-screen.

If any of the above offends your sensibilities, then why the crap are you reading Yugioh fanfiction? o.O

* * *

**Chapter Two - Sad To Be All Alone in the World**

Ryou walked through the park, feeling the hot summer sun scorch his skin. It felt nice, knowing that he stood in the light, that the shadows couldn't get to him in the middle of the day, at noon, surrounded by people at the park. He could feeling a sunburn starting, but he had to stay out as long as he could, soak up as much light as he could.

"Hey! Ryou!"

The white-haired boy looked up to see Yugi standing there by the water fountain. The mist from the water cast little rainbows across his skin before landing on him, making his skin glisten, rendering him incandescently beautiful. Ryou blinked and shook his head, and it was just Yugi standing there, a slightly goofy smile on his face, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, Yugi," Ryou said, walking over to the Duelist. "You've gotten taller since school got out."

Yugi shrugged and laughed. "Growth spurt," he admitted. "Grandpa says I might just have to get a summer job to pay for new clothes, since I'm growing out of mine so fast."

Now that Yugi pointed it out, Ryou noticed how poorly the other hikari's clothes were fitting him, his shirt stretched too tight across his shoulders and his shorts fitting just a little too snug. "Yeah," Ryou said weakly. "Plus it'd give you something to do over the summer."

"You're right," Yugi agreed with a grin. "You should find something to do, too, Ryou. Otherwise it'll be a boring summer."

"Yeah," Ryou said, since that was what he was supposed to do. He shivered and looked up at the sky. The sun was still shining brightly, but it suddenly felt just a bit colder than before. "I forgot to put on sunscreen, so I guess I should get going. Bye, Yugi."

"Okay. See you later, then, Ryou." He waved to Ryou as he turned and walked off through the trees, their shadows rippling over him.

Still feeling cold, Ryou quickly made his way back to his house. He wasn't sure, but the meeting with Yugi had seemed just a bit odd. The most obvious thing had been a distinct lack of the Friendship Brigade, the satellites usually orbiting Yugi. Didn't they hang out almost every day? Yugi didn't even mention any of their names. Still, Ryou supposed that maybe the other hikari had grown up enough that he didn't need his friends to hold his hand while he hunted for a summer job.

No, it was something else off about Yugi.

Maybe he was just being paranoid.

The phone rang, making Ryou jump in surprise. He hurried into the kitchen and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Is this Ryou Bakura?" Ryou recognized the voice from somewhere, but he couldn't immediately place it.

"Yes." What was this about?

There was silence on the other end of the line for what felt like hours. "I...I would first just like to say that I am so sorry..."

Ryou knew the voice, now. It was that same sympathetic man who called before with the news of his father.

"What happened?" Ryou whispered, his voice lost somewhere in the park with Yugi.

"I'm not sure how best to tell you this, Ryou-kun, but...I'm sorry to say that your father will not be coming home."

Ryou felt his mind resisting, fighting against what the man was saying. Of course his father wasn't coming home. He never did...

"The sunstroke must have affected his mind more than the doctors thought," the voice continued relentlessly. "They weren't watching him closely and...between his ramblings...I know this is going to be hard to hear, but I figure you deserve to know what happened. He...bit his wrists to make himself bleed to death. He left a message written on the wall in his own blood. It said 'Tell Bakura the Faceless Chaos. Warn my son.' We're not sure what he meant by warning you, or why he called you by your last name...but by then he certainly wasn't in control of himself."

Ryou nodded as if the man on the other side of the world could see him. "Thank you," he said, frightened by his own lack of emotion.

"Ryou-kun, I know this is a hard time for you, but I want you to know that your father loved you very much. Why, just two weeks ago he was telling about this time when you were little, and you got into the flour in the kitchen and put it in your--"

Ryou hung up the phone in the middle of the man's words. He didn't want to hear anymore, didn't want to think about things, or feel anything. If he stopped, if he felt, if he thought, it would probably kill him.

His hands trembling, he picked up the phone and dialed Yugi's phone number. Before anyone could answer, however, the lightbulb just above him burned out. Beginning to panic, he hung up the phone and went to change the lightbulb before the darkness could get him. Shaking uncontrollably now, he called the next person that came to mind, the encounter with Yugi in the park having left him uneasy.

"KaibaCorp, how may I help you?" the secretary said brightly, making Ryou wince.

"I want to challenge Kaiba to a Duel." There was a stunned silence on the other end. "Tell Seto Kaiba that Ryou Bakura challenges him to a Duel. Immediately." He was starting to hyperventilate, stars winking in and out of existence before his eyes as he struggled for air.

There was a whispered conference on the other end, and the secretary returned, her voice not nearly as bright as before. "I'll transfer you to someone who can help you. Can you hold?"

_No. _"Yes."

While the annoying music played, Ryou wracked his brain trying to remember where he had put his Duel deck, and then found himself wondering if the spirit of the ring had left his deck around the house somewhere. Most likely not. Ryou found himself staring at the new lightbulb, his eyes watering. _At least now I'm crying._

"What is this about a Duel?" Kaiba's voice suddenly demanded over the phone.

Ryou closed his eyes, willing the tears to disappear since he no longer needed them. "I'm challenging you to a Duel, Kaiba."

"Breaking you would hardly be a challenge," the billionaire scoffed.

"How do you know that?" Ryou demanded angrily, trying to wipe his tears away. "You've never Dueled me. Heck, you've never even _seen_ me Duel. You have no _idea_ if I'm a good Duelist or not!"

Silence.

"Well?" Ryou said, trying to ignore how his voice cracked slightly.

"I'll send a car for you." Kaiba hung up.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Atem could feel the pulse of the land. The shadows lingered still. He ran over broken ground, the burning air scorching his lungs._

There must be a way!

A gleaming figure in white stood, an unmovable, unshakable pillar where all the rest has fallen to darkness and despair.

"Set!" he cried out to his friend.

The priest in white turned toward Atem, a smile on his face. Atem's steps faltered. Why was he smiling?

Atem's curiosity was quickly satisfied. "All of your kingdom has fallen, Pharaoh," Set smirked. "You have been stripped of everything. Your glory, your throne..." His smile faded as he caught the expression on Atem's face. "I'm sorry."

The Pharaoh met his friend's gaze for a few moments, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What were you able to find out?"

Set broke eye contact first, his stance suddenly uncertain. "That there is no other way than to strip you of your name as well..."

Yugi opened his eyes reluctantly, squinting at his alarm clock through the grey early morning light. He groaned when he saw how early it was. The wierd dream had left him more than a little queasy, so he stumbled from his bed to the bathroom, dragging a blanket to curl up on the floor with. The mirror in the bathroom was comforting. Whenever he caught a glimpse of his reflection from the corner of his eye, he could pretend it wasn't himself he was seeing.

* * *

I love Kaiba. I really do.

Bakura: _I _don't. He's going to hurt my hikari!

Shem: You're back, Baku-Baku-chan!

Bakura: What did you just call me?!

Shem: Quick, Yami! Distract him!

Yami: How?

Marik: Like this! *strikes sexy pose*

Bakura: *snorts* like that's going to...distract...me...*stares at Marik's abs*

Yami: You're not supposed to show up until chapter four!

Shem: Review!


	3. Away From The Wakeful Day

Hey there, everyone! Hurray for Chapter Three! And some super good news for shem: I got a job! Huzzah! Now I can earn money to spend on more manga and anime and cosplay stuff!

Thank you, Neonn. You win a gold star for being able to beta my stuff on your phone while you're at work.

**Erik's Champion - **I like the darkness, too. It's going to be getter even better very soon.

**Pride1289 - **There really needs to be a way to communicate sarcasm through writing. Maybe if I just have Kaiba respond to you then we can all convey our emotions clearly [/snark]

And of course, because I keep forgetting, here is a disclaimer: Yugioh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. If it belonged to me, it would probably look a lot more like this fic...and have a lot more making out.

* * *

**Chapter Three - Away From The Wakeful Day**

Ryou had never been to Kaiba's mansion, or really had much to do with Kaiba himself. His fellow classmate held himself so aloof that Ryou wondered why he ever bothered coming to school at all. Then he figured it was because Kaiba enjoyed the attention he received, enjoyed ignoring people just because he could. Of course, Ryou admitted to himself, maybe there was something else motivating Kaiba, something most people didn't see.

After all, wasn't he the same way?

A butler-looking man led Ryou through the mansion's hallways to some sort of library/study, where Kaiba himself sat stiffly in a chair, his eyes fixated on some thick book that it didn't look like he was actually reading, only staring at. Ryou did his best to keep his face as smooth and composed as he could. This room was rather dimly lit, compared to the bright, wide hallways, and the large windows looking out over the deepening twilight only served to make Ryou more uncomfortable. He hoped that wherever they Dueled wouldn't have big windows, and that it would be well illuminated.

"Why the hell are you challenging me to a Duel?" Kaiba growled over the cover of the book, his hard blue eyes boring holes through Ryou's skull.

Ryou swallowed and forced his mind to focus, to pay attention to the threads in the fabric of Kaiba's clothes, to the way Kaiba sat ramrod straight in the comfortable-looking chair, to the stern angle his mouth was set at as he glared at Ryou.

"I thought it would be fun." Ryou smiled as Kaiba's scowl darkened. "Besides, I need to get my mind off some things." His voice sounded so much more sure than he was. He envied his voice's confidence.

"Oh, so now I'm just here to entertain you."

"Well, technically you _are_ in the entertainment industry."

To Ryou's surprise, Kaiba smirked. "Let's Duel!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Yugi was tired, and his arms and legs hurt, but it was the good kind of tired and hurting. It was the feeling of a long day spent playing hard with people you loved to be with. He and Anzu and Honda had spent the entire day at the water park, despite the unseasonably cold weather. The smell of chlorine, sweat and sunshine still lingered even as he entered the game shop.

"Grandpa!" he called up the stairs. "I'm home!" Yugi made his way into the kitchen, dropping his towel and stuff on a chair and pulling out bread and peanut butter. "Do you want a sandwich, Grandpa!?" He walked over to the fridge and pulled out the jam. Grandpa probably had already eaten, but he figured he might as well offer.

"Grandpa!" he yelled loudly. "Do you want a sandwich!?" Still no answer. Yugi grumbled and fixed himself two sandwiches. The new shipment of games was probably in, and Grandpa loved to go through the new games, making sure each one was there, making sure he knew all the rules, knew all the best strategies. He said it was so he could help his customers, but Yugi knew it was the real reason he owned a game shop. The old man loved games.

Stuffing the second sandwich in his mouth as he went, Yugi climbed the stairs, heading to his room to turn on the radio and maybe play a video game. At the top of the stairs, he finally heard the old man shout back that he didn't want any sandwiches, thank you very much. Yugi smiled and continued to his room.

If he turned the music loud enough, maybe he could forget that no one was in the room with him. If he stayed up late enough, immersing himself in some virtual world, maybe he would be too tired and distracted to notice how empty his mind was.

The clock showed a time far past midnight when Yugi stumbled to the light switch and slipped his jeans off in the dark. His attempts had worked as well as ever, letting his tired mind imagine shapes in the shadows next to his bed.

"I spent the day at the water park with Anzu and Honda, mou hitori no boku," Yugi said softly as he sat on the edge of the bed. "They put in a new waterslide that's a tube, so it's pitch black and you can't see anything. I've never heard Anzu scream so loud in my life!" He grinned, drawing an arm across his eyes in a futile attempt to wipe away the tears that were already starting. "Maybe next time I'll invite Kaiba. You never know if he'll change his mind."

Another smile crossed his face as he imagined Yami's response to that. _You always think the best of people, don't you, abiou..._

Yugi shivered, imagining a ghostly arm around his shoulders. "I want to think the best of people, Yami," he breathed. "I want to have faith in people, in the world..." He buried his face in his hands, his frame bending under the weight of his words. "But I didn't know it would be this hard! I didn't know being alone would be so frightening. Mou hitori no boku..."

_Abiou..._

Yugi's heart pounded in his chest and his eyes burned as he let his head sink down onto his pillow. Every part of him longed for that voice in his mind to be real, for things to be as they had been. He wished for the darkness that had never left him alone in his own mind.

He wanted his other self.

* * *

Don't worry. Things _really_ kick into gear next chapter.

Yugi: What?

Shem: And we get to see Marik!

Marik: *Cheshire grin*

Yugi:...I'm not sure I like this fic very much...*reads ahead*

Ryou: Me neither.

Bakura: Me neither.

Kaiba: I _hate_ this fic.

Yami and Marik: ...

Marik: I _like_ this fic. And ice cream.

Review!


	4. Take My Arms That I Might Reach You

Another day, another chapter. My resolve to stay at least five chapters ahead on this story has crumbled, since now I'm only four chapters ahead. Oh, well. This chapter has Marik in it!

**pride1289 - **Marik is officially in love with you now. Congratulations.

**tinkletimekelly - **Indeed it is. I wish I could say it gets less so...Who am I kidding? This story is only going to get worse! Yugi: T.T Why are you so mean to me?

Marik: Woot! I'm cool in this fic!

Shem: Keep telling yourself that. This chapter also has Kaiba! Yay!

Kaiba: *scowls* I'm going to sue you for character derailment.

Shem: But I don't have any money!

Kaiba: Then you shouldn't screw the rules.

Shem: *sigh* Anyways, remember, kids, that Shematite does not own Yugioh. Kazuki Takahashi does.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Take My Arms That I Might Reach You**

_Focus. Duel. Set that trap. Defensive mode. Focus. Plan something. Attack! Focus. Draw. Summon. Attack mode. Activate trap. Focus._

Ryou stared at the cards in front of him, not letting himself blink, not letting himself think of anything but the game. Kaiba was living up to his reputation, ruthlessly pummeling Ryou with attack after attack, while Ryou had yet to touch Kaiba's lifepoints. He shifted his weight uncomfortably in the high-backed chair he sat in, trying to ignore the shadows gathering in the corners of the room. The handful of ornate lamps cast a fitful illumination in the large, high-ceilinged space.

"This is pathetic," Kaiba sneered. "And here you'd gotten my hopes up about this being an interesting game." He sacrificed his Hitatsume Giant and Sagi the Dark Clown to summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Anything to counter that?"

Ryou shook his head, his eyes glued to his worthless cards carefully arranged on the polished wood surface of the table. "No. It's over. Good game, Kaiba."

Kaiba growled. "Don't be a moron. That was anything _but_ a good game. I could have beaten you blindfolded. What is this all about, anyway?"

Surprised, Ryou looked up and met Kaiba's scornful gaze. "Come on," the billionaire continued. "What's the real reason you came here?" Kaiba's words floated over him as deep, unthinking fear flooded him. There, behind Kaiba, was a small window. Night had fallen, coating the world in thick, consuming darkness. Ryou could feel it just at the base of his neck, dripping cold through him.

Confused, Kaiba turned his head toward the window, then slowly back to Ryou. The white-haired teen was facing that window not so much as if it were about to jump out of its casing and eat him, but as if it were slowly eating him already. It was actually unnerving, looking at such naked terror; it seemed far too personal. Kaiba grimaced. "Need a ride home?" he grumbled.

Ryou slowly turned his wide-eyed gaze onto Kaiba. "Actually," he whispered. "C-could I stay here for tonight? I-I'll go home first thing tomorrow."

Kaiba scoffed. "Why on earth would I..." He hesitated. The look on Ryou's face was frightening in and of itself, marked with emotions he couldn't fully put words to. For some reason it reminded him of the orphanage, that same sense of hopelessness and loss, tangled with something else that shook him to the core.

"Roland!" he called out harshly. "Prepare a guest room."

The butler opened the door to the study to give an "as Master Kaiba wishes" before retreating to carry out the orders. Kaiba had to look away from Ryou. It was too painful to watch the expression on his face show everything like that.

"Thank you, Kaiba."

The brunette didn't even bother responding to that, exiting the room and all but fleeing the presence of that ghost-like boy.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Marik grimaced as the hot desert wind whipped his hair into his face. The cloaked figures in front of him seemed to expect some sort of answer, even though they hadn't ask a question. The one on the right tipped his head to one side and gave Marik a wild-eyed grin that made him more than a little uncomfortable. He shifted his gaze to the man in the center, the one who seemed to be the leader, as well as the most sane.

"What do you want?" he demanded, his hand automatically moving to his side, where the Millennium Rod should be. More than a year later, and he still missed its comforting weight, the solid sense of power and control it radiated.

The grinning figure began to laugh, a dry, hiccuping laugh that set Marik's teeth on edge. "Isn't it obvious?" he cackled. "We've heard a great deal about you, Marik Ishtar."

"Silence!" barked the leader. The giggler recoiled so hard Marik wondered if he'd blinked and missed him being struck. "You forget yourself, Nadar. We stand before a most blessed man. We stand before him just as he has stood before the Great Priest of the Ether, Chaos Made Flesh."

Marik blinked and shook his hair out of his face. Priest? Were they talking about Kaiba?

The silent figure to the left whose hands never stopped moving suddenly stepped forward and prostrated himself before Marik, making him jump in surprise. The other two men quickly followed suit.

A curious smile found its way onto Marik's face. This could lead to something very interesting indeed.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Yugi smiled as he entered the game shop, the radio inside playing Grandpa's favorite Beatles' song.

_"Blackbird singing in the dead of night/Take these broken wings and learn to fly..."_

Yugi walked into the kitchen and put the grocery bags on the table. The new Duel Disks from Kaiba Corp must have come today. Grandpa would be in back, taking inventory of them.

_"...All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to rise..."_

Making his way towards the back storage room, Yugi smiled. "Grandpa!" he called out. "Rice was on sale, so I got an extra bag."

_"...Take these sunken eyes and learn to see..."_

"Need help with those new Duel Disks?"

_"...All your life..."_

"Grandpa?"

_"...You were only waiting for this moment to be free..."_

The door handle was burning cold. As soon as the door was cracked open, the raw, metallic scent of blood overwhelmed him.

_"...Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly/into the light of the dark black night..."_

_

* * *

_

Cliffhanger! Bwahaha! And to think I don't even like the Beatles...

Marik: Well that was disappointing.

Shem: Oh, shut up. You know you get to be more exciting later.

Yami no Marik: Review!

Shem: What the...you aren't in this story! Well, not really...


	5. My Cards Know Something I Don't

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend.

**pride1289 - **Cake? I like cake! (Kaiba: The cake is a lie!)

**shadyatem - **I'm so glad you like it so far! I'm also glad that it's so mysterious. Having Neonn beta for me makes me think I'm no good at subtlety because she can see through all my foreshadowing. As for Grandpa...I guess I'll just let you read the chapter.

This chapter marks Jou and Mai's first appearance. Boston Cream Pie for everyone!

* * *

**Chapter Five: My Cards Know Something I Don't  
**

Every time he blinked, he saw it. Every time his eyes met empty space it launched itself at him from his memory. Yugi shuddered, his grip on the cup of tea they'd given him tightening. His eyes closed.

_Red._

_Human eyes can take in millions and millions of bits of information every instant, but the mind can only process a few thousand per second._

_Red. Brilliant, pounding red near the center of the room, fading through infinitesimal shades to darker, colder red on the walls, the ceiling... Sharp cardboard angles scattered carelessly, leaning into the red. A calming, caring figure twisted into wretched unfamiliarity._

_Every second gave Yugi a few thousand more reasons to scream._

He bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed as he shivered, the liquid in his cup trembling with his movements.

The heavy door opened to let in a tall, thin woman with a badge around her neck. She gave him a sympathetic look. "We called your friends," she said softly, though her voice was rough. "They're on their way here."

Yugi nodded gratefully. He'd been hysterical by the time the police arrived, curled up in the kitchen with the phone clutched to his chest and a knife in his other hand. It had taken them nearly fifteen minutes to calm him down to the point they could bring him here to the police station.

The policewoman looked as if she would rather be almost anywhere else. "What's happened is terrible," she said. "And we need your help to find whoever did this. Can you think of anything that could help us? Was there anyone you can think of who would do this to your Grandpa?"

Yugi mutely shook his head. The woman fished a handful of pictures from a file she carried. "There were words and pictures on the ceiling. Some of them look like they might be occult. We have a specialist looking at them, but we wanted to see if there was anything you recognize." She held out the pictures to Yugi, who slowly took them and stared at them. The writing looked like gibberish, the only thing actually written in Japanese that he could see said "Hail to the High Priest of the Ether". He tried to ignore the red coloring of the symbols.

One picture caught his gaze, drawing him in like an undertow. In the very center of the ceiling, a symbol he had seen when he first opened the door. An equilateral triangle with an eye in the center. The Millennium Puzzle.

His eyes widened, and he looked through the pictures again. Most of the writing was in a language he didn't recognize, but around the picture of the puzzle and in one corner of the ceiling were ancient Egyptian Heiroglyphs. He could read them. In fact, it seemed he couldn't _not_ read them. The words burned through him, echoing in his his head and sinking down into his gut, wrenching at everything along the way.

_You are alone you are alone you are alone you are alone you are alone you are alone..._

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Jou rolled over onto his stomach and tipped his head to smile at Mai lounging on the beach chair next to him. The last week had been one of the best of his life, spent traveling around with Mai, visiting tourist locations all around Japan.

She was really wonderful. His grin became slightly goofy as he examined her smooth, tanned skin, rendered highly viewable by her skimpy bikini, and her long, wavy hair held in check with a headband and plenty of hairspray. Her lips were slightly parted as she concentrated on fixing some perceived flaw in her lipstick with the help of a small mirror.

"See something you like?"

Jou was startled out of his reverie by her voice. She was looking back at him now, her violet eyes sparkling with mirth. A faint blush warmed his face when he realized her gaze was roving his own body.

"Y-yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "Do you?"

She laughed, the sound chiming through the hot air. Once again, she smiled down at him from her beach chair. This smile spoke of nothing but happiness. "I certainly do." She winked at him.

Returning the smile, Jounochi rubbed at his ear. "What a relief!" He pushed himself up to his knees and stretched his arms above his head. They'd been together for several months now, and sometimes Jou still found it hard to believe that this gorgeous woman saw something in him worth keeping around.

"What are you thinking, Jounochi?" she asked, leaning back in her chair. Jou did his best to focus on the words coming out of her mouth rather than the view her new position offered.

"Just thinking about how I'm probably the most lucky guy in all existence," he responded. Leaning forward, he held her hand for a moment before delivering a lingering kiss on her cheek.

She pouted at him. "Oh, come on, Jounochi. I taught you better than that, didn't I?"

He grinned. "Yes." To prove that he had in fact been paying very close attention to her teaching, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, eagerly teasing the kiss deeper as his hands reached up to gently caress her face.

After a few minutes Mai pulled back and smiled. "What a well-trained puppy I have," she sighed. "Is my lipstick smeared?"

"Hang on a sec," Jou began impishly, intending to make sure it was very thoroughly smeared. Something stopped him, though. A sound. "Did you hear that?"

Mai frowned. "No. Hear what?"

The sound came again, mixed together in the air with the sound of the waves and birds and the faint roar of cars from the road. "It sounds like...someone crying."

Mai stood up, peering at the small empty beach around them. "Jou, no one's here. It must be the wind."

Jou stood as well, his hands shaking slightly as he stared down the beach. "No," he said firmly. "That's definitely someone crying. It sounds like..." His eyes widened and the blood drained from his face. "Yugi!"

Startled, Mai grabbed Jou's arm. "What are you talking about? I don't hear anything. Maybe you've been in the sun to long. Let's get you back to the hotel, okay?"

Wrenching his arm from her grasp, Jou took off running down the beach towards the water. "Yugi!" he cried out. "Where are you?"

Something glimmered in the sand at the edge of the waves. As Jounochi got closer, he saw that it was a short length of chain, partially buried in the sand. "Yugi!" he gasped, falling to his knees and digging frantically at the chain. The wet sand clung to it angrily, the grains wearing at his hands. After a few moments, he'd unearthed it. Its eye seemed to look right into him, the thin outlines of the pieces in the gold cut harshly through its form. Looking at it made Jou's head hurt. The angles of its structure made sense individually, but the straight lines somehow ended where they shouldn't.

"Yugi," Jou breathed. "I've got to get you back to Yugi."

"Jou?"

Jou opened his eyes and looked up at Mai. He was laying on his back on his towel, the sun much closer to the horizon than he remembered. "Wha...?" he said groggily.

"You fell asleep, silly puppy," she said with a fond smile. "You look so cute when you sleep, but I was thinking we could get in some evening shopping before going back to the hotel."

"Mmm...yeah. Sounds great." Well _that_ was a strange dream. Just goes to show you shouldn't eat too many twinkies and grapes before falling asleep on a beach.

Mai pouted. Jou winced. She knew she could get him to do anything when she pouted. "You don't sound very excited," she accused.

Not able to think of an answer to that, Jou just brushed the wet sand off his hands and gathered up all their stuff to carry back to the car.

* * *

*cackles* *eats pie*

Yugi: T.T

Yami: o.O

Bakura: *snarls*

Marik: Hey, Bakura, remember that saying about counting to ten before killing people for their stupidity?

Ryou: *blinks* What's going on?

Miho: *pops into existence* I think our dear author is suffering from an excess of pie and mixed-up continuity. She probably thinks she just posted chapter nine.

Kaiba: That's just stupid.

Shem: TeeHee!!! *tackles Kaiba* You're a kitty!

Jounochi: Um...Review?


	6. A Wicked And Wild Wind

It's been interesting writing this story lately. The Big Bad of the whole story that lives in my head keeps wanting to...ahem..._play_ with people before I'm ready for it to. Honestly. Some people's children...

Yami: What?

Jou: AHHH! It's gonna come after me next, isn't it! I knew it!

Shem: *evil laughter*

Yami: Jou...do you mean "knew it" in the _Biblical_ sense?

Jou: (in an attempt to sound smart) Er...yes, Yami. In the Biblical sense.

Yami: ...o.O...*dies*

Shem: Jeez Louise, Jou. You just killed my muse!

Yugi: T.T I want my Yami back!

Marik: Big deal. He'll be back by the end of the chapter.

**KageNoNeko - **Yes, last chapter was shorter, but this one's longer, so I guess it balances things out well. As for Joey dreaming about the puzzle...you are oh so very right. It's not good.

**pride1289 - **Can I adopt you? You're so cute! I'll feed you lots! And then make you play DDR for hours and hours so you don't gain weight.

**mywaylost - **Why thank you! I'm not gonna lie, I like reviews that make me feel like an awesome writer.

This chapter is dedicated to LittleKuriboh. Every penny counts.

* * *

**Chapter Six: A Wicked And Wild Wind**

Honda sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He and Anzu had arrived at the police station together, looking for Yugi. The officer that had called them didn't say what had happened, just that Yugi needed them to come to the station. Then these crazy police had tried to keep Anzu from seeing Yugi, saying that he was in hysterics and they were trying to calm him down first.

Honda smirked. Man, had those guys gotten one of Anzu's infamous 'Power of Friendship' speeches. Inevitably, they caved in to her. She was in with Yugi now, trying to calm him down.

Of course, he was hysterical for good reason. Honda couldn't think of anything they had been through that could have possibly prepared Yugi for something like this. He shuddered. The grisly scene the police had described to him made him feel more than a little sick, and to think that Yugi found his Grandpa like that...

The door to the small room opened, and Anzu walked out, her arm wrapped protectively around Yugi's shoulders. The look on his friend's face struck Honda like a punch to the gut. Innocent little Yugi's eyes were wide and unseeing, red from crying. His face was thin and pale, his mouth a straight, trembling line.

Honda knew he wasn't special. Throughout all of their adventures with Yami, battling evil, saving the world, saving each other, he hadn't ever done much. He wasn't a Duelist, wasn't much of anything, really, but he'd always been there to protect his friends. More than anything he wanted to protect them, but before this there had been little he could do to defend them, since they were the fighters, the Duelists, and he was not. They had saved him more times than he could count, from dangers physical and otherwise, and now he had failed to save Yugi from this.

"They said he's free to go," Anzu said quietly, her eyes on Yugi's face. "But they also said they're not finished with the crime scene at the shop." Her gaze shifted to him, quietly asking for the help he had always wanted to give.

"My house, then."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A quiet, almost reverent sigh escaped Marik as he looked around the large underground room. Carved into the solid stone walls were elaborate designs, visible between the bookshelves that lined the walls. At the far end of the room was the most fantastic personage etched into the stone, with a blank face beneath the detailed headdress and alien glyphs.

"Why doesn't he have a face?" Marik asked, pointing at the carving.

The three who led him there very pointedly looked away from the figure in stone. "The Blind and Faceless One," one of them whispered. Marik couldn't tell which. "The Priest of the Ether has a Thousand Forms, for He is Chaos Incarnate."

Blind and faceless one, huh? He must be fun to have at parties. "Why did you bring me here?" Marik demanded, turning to the three of them.

The center one stepped forward and bowed. "You are a chosen being," his low, raspy voice hissed. "The Tearer of Souls aided you, in sundering your spirit to destroy the cancerous growth in your own soul."

Marik stiffened, his eyes narrowing. _My yami..._ "How do you know about that?" he snapped at them.

"In this room are many secrets," the man continued. "The High Priest of the Ether has blessed you, so we brought you here to deliver those secrets to you."

A cat-like smile spread across Marik's face as he thought of getting his hands on all those books. "What's the catch?" There _had_ to be a catch.

"We ask only that nothing be removed from this room, since this collection is very old and valuable."

Marik crossed his arms. "Am _I _allowed to leave the room?"

"Of course, Honored One."

Marik was beginning to like the sound of this.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Blinking wearily against the morning sunlight, Honda wandered into the kitchen, grabbed some orange juice from the fridge, and started making toast for everyone. It had been a long night, and he hadn't slept at all. Anzu had stayed in his older sister's room, and they'd gotten Yugi into the guest room. However, as soon as he tried to leave the room to go to his own bed, Yugi had broken down into hysterics again. It was a very good thing the whole family was out of town. Honda had wound up sleeping on a chair they'd pulled into the guest room. At first he was on the floor, but Yugi would freak out since he couldn't see Honda in the room with him.

Honda carried a plate full of toast into the guest room to find Yugi sitting up in bed, his eyes red and his hair flung every which way, thanks to his tossing and turning in the night.

"Sleep at all?" Honda asked quietly.

Yugi shrugged. "Not really."

The door opened and Anzu stepped into the room. For once, she didn't say anything, just sat on the foot of the bed and helped herself to a piece of toast.

They ate quietly, Honda getting up once to get the other two orange juice, as well. Anzu managed to coax Yugi into taking a couple of bites, though he chewed mechanically, not tasting anything. There really wasn't anything to say. What do you say when something like that happens? I'm sorry for your loss? That just sounds stupid, Honda thought as he ate his third slice of toast. It was blind and narrow, artificial and backwards.

"The police woman showed me some pictures," Yugi whispered. Anzu and Honda froze, not wanting to interrupt him. "There were messages left on the ceiling, in Ancient Egyptian. There was a picture of the puzzle, too."

His eyes lifted to meet theirs. "We need to get a hold of Marik. I think he might know something."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kaiba scowled as he paced through the hallways. It seemed that crazy schizo was still asleep, though it was nearly lunchtime. He'd told the servants not to bother with the psycho, that he would wake up on his own eventually and leave, but he'd thought that would be long before this.

Opening the door, Kaiba came to a halt in the center of the room. Every light in the room was on, even a lamp Kaiba could tell had been dragged in from the bathroom. The heavy curtains were closed, blocking out the noon sunlight. Under the covers of the bed, the white-haired boy whimpered.

Kaiba's sharp blue eyes snapped over to the bed. Intending to wake the schizo up and tell him to leave, he walked over. Another whimper stopped him, though. The pale face against the pillow was fearful, eyes closed tight against something in his dreams.

Sighing, Kaiba hoped the schizo wasn't one of those people who woke up swinging. He reached out, and nearly jumped with surprise to find the boy's hair so soft. Unintentionally, his touch turned gentle, his fingers exploring the unbelievably soft hair. The whimpers died down, and the creases of fear on the psycho's face smoothed away, leaving a white-haired angel asleep in front of Kaiba, breathing peacefully.

With a sigh, Kaiba withdrew his hand. _Why do I always find myself surrounded by the certifiably insane?_ He walked over to the window and drew back the curtains. The bright, white light streamed in, waking the sleeping boy. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, blinking in the brightness.

"It's nearly noon," Kaiba snarled. "Get out of my house."

The schizo nodded and sleepily clambered out of the bed. Kaiba turned and walked toward the door. He grimaced, trying to ignore the way his fingers were tingling where he'd touched the other boy's hair.

"I'm sending a car for you at seven o'clock tonight," he growled over his shoulder. "That game last night didn't even qualify as such. No excuses."

Honestly, hadn't the psycho hung out with Yugi and friends long enough to pick up some things? It was just pathetic, letting him run around like that. Kaiba stalked angrily down the hall. He definitely had to teach the schizo a thing or two about Dueling.

* * *

Poor Ryou! Poor Honda! Poor Yugi! Poor...er...Marik? What are you doing?

Marik: Reading. Duh. What does it look like I'm doing?

Shem: Why are you reading Chapter Nine?

Marik: Because it's ALL about ME! *grins*

Shem: *mutters* Narcissist. *normal voice* That's right, everyone. Marik gets his very own chapter coming up. All from his point of view. It's very exciting.

Yami: I'm back! Boy, am I glad I am a fictional character. Review!


	7. With That Same Speed To Fly

Hello, readers! Lovely weather we're having!

*cricket chirp*

Oh, dear. Readers? I know there's people reading this. The hit counter tells me so. I guess **pride1289** gets full cake privileges. Congratulations, dearest!

Now, don't worry, other, vague, anonymous readers. I still like you, I just don't know what you think of the story. Except for **Neonn_, _**my beta of awesome, and **pride1289**. As Far as I can tell, they both want to eat the story. o.O Neonn has told me right out she intends to eat chapter nine. Oh, well.

Yugioh does not belong to me. Just some cards :)

Remember that **shounen-ai** warning I gave a few chapters back?

* * *

**Chapter Seven: With That Same Speed To Fly**

The next three weeks passed in a haze for Yugi, a distant yet painful march of the monotonous daily activity required of him. He ate when food was put in front of him, and pretended to sleep when led to a bed. Sometimes people called him on the phone, and he gave semi-verbal responses to their expressions of condolences.

Yugi dreamed every night. Most of the time it was dreams of red, of bitter, coppery smells that turned his stomach, and the sound of Beatles music. Every once in while, though, he dreamed of other things and other colors. He dreamed of white and gold, of soft sand and softer silk, of voices and faces he knew he had never seen before, but his other self had. He woke from the first dreams screaming, and the other dreams crying.

The police told him the results of the autopsy. Grandpa's cause of death was loss of blood. The weapon was Yugi's old Duel deck, the one he and Yami had built. Honda had paled visibly and Anzu had to leave the room after hearing of the cards stabbed through various places of the old man's body, notably with Kuriboh through his neck and the Dark Magician stuffed in his mouth.

Repeated attempts to get a hold of Marik were met with failure, though Anzu did find a phone number on the Egyptian Government Website that let her call Ishizu's office. According to the former holder of the necklace, Marik had disappeared four weeks before Yugi's Grandpa was killed. That information made a dangerous expression appear on Honda's face as he paced the room.

Jounochi proved equally impossible to reach. Something must have happened to his cell phone, and it seemed like Mai was doing everything possible to hide their trail of hotel numbers.

Even after the crime scene was cleaned up, Yugi refused to stay alone at the Kame Game shop, not that his friends could blame him. Now he was staying at Honda's house, surrounded by the bustle of Honda's family once they returned from vacation. They were very comforting people by nature, Yugi discovered, letting him sit quietly, not asking anything of him, just letting him soak up the surprisingly quiet atmosphere.

At the end of the third week, Jounochi returned, bleached and tanned and grinning. Anzu burst into tears at the sight of him. He was incredibly confused until Honda pulled him aside and told him everything that had happened.

Jou walked into Honda's living room and over to sit by Yugi on the couch. He had to admit that Yugi looked terrible, his face pale and drawn, none of the liveliness Jou was used to. Staring at the television, the news describing how the weather had been consistently breaking record lows for the last two weeks in the area, Yugi's eyes were red and empty. Jou noted that his clothes were starting to look too small for him, too. It made his stomach clench, seeing his friend like this.

"Hey, Yug," he said softly. No response. "I'm here for ya, now, like I should always be."

Yugi nodded slightly, his eyes still fixated on the television, now advertising the new model of Kaiba Corp's Duel Disks. The reaction was much less than Jou hoped for.

"Yug," he whispered, since he didn't trust his voice not to crack. "You're not alone."

There was a pause, then Yugi turned his head slowly towards Jounochi. Jou thought it felt rather like being sucker punched in the stomach, seeing how utterly lost his friend was. Yugi leaned towards Jou, letting his head rest against the blonde's shoulder. It was then that the tears came freely.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A small, real smile appeared on Ryou's face. "I play the spell card Change of Heart," he said. "And take control of your Judge Man. Since he is equipped with Invigoration, that gives him enough attack points to wipe out your Battle Ox as well as the rest of your life points." Ryou sat back in his chair, waiting for Kaiba to respond, probably with a Reverse Trap card or something else that would make Ryou lose.

To Ryou's everlasting shock, it never came. Kaiba's eyes slowly lifted from the cards to Ryou's own. "Well played," he sneered. "Congratulations. You beat me." He smirked.

Despite the last few weeks of nearly daily games with Kaiba, the billionaire was still indecipherable to Ryou. He couldn't tell if the smirk on Kaiba's face was angry or amused.

"I suppose you'll be having another slumber party in the guest room, since you're so scared of the dark." Kaiba rose to his feet and walked toward the door. If Ryou didn't know better, he would have said the CEO looked hesitant about something. Then again, Ryou _had_ just beaten him at Duel Monsters.

"Kaiba," Ryou said quietly. "What's wrong?"

Kaiba froze, his shoulders stiff. Ryou wondered if it was anger, or anger at being nervous or upset about something. He turned a cold glare towards Ryou. "What are you talking about?"

There was _definitely_ something wrong with the way Kaiba was acting. Ryou stood and walked towards him. "I can tell there's something bothering you, and it's more than a card game. Why don't you tell me?"

Kaiba's gaze grew even colder, which Ryou had barely thought possible. "The _problem_ is," he growled. "That your sentiments are returned exactly. You've been coming over nearly every day for nearly a month, and you've never said what's wrong." A smirk slid across his face before he threw Ryou's own words back at him. "I can tell there's something bothering you, and it's more than a card game. Why don't you tell me?"

Ryou felt his hands begin to tremble under the onslaught of Kaiba's words. His knees weakened under that iron-hard gaze, and he felt cold and hot all at once.

"My dad died." Ryou's mouth was leading a mutiny against him, though his voice trembled alarmingly in protest. "He was in an accident during an excavation." Close enough. "He was the only family I have left; even my yami is gone. I have no one left, Kaiba. I'm all alone."

Kaiba was beginning to look very blurry through the long-suppressed tears that threatened to spill over. "Yesterday the landlord called, demanding the rent for the month. I'm afraid I'm going to get evicted. I don't know what to do!"

The aching in Ryou's chest was back, multiplied by the sudden shame he felt at such an emotional display in front of the stoic boy in front of him. Deciding things couldn't get any worse, he closed the distance between him and Kaiba, throwing his arms around him and burying his face in his shoulder. "And I have such terrible nightmares," Ryou whispered, his tears soaking through Kaiba's shirt. "I'm so afraid of the dark. What if the electricity gets shut off because I'm not paying the bill? What do I do?"

Kaiba hadn't moved at all except to tense up when Ryou hugged him. Once his thoughts returned to a speed he could follow, Ryou wondered if he had finally crossed the line, invading Kaiba's precious personal space. _Might as well take advantage of the opportunity._ He let himself cry into Kaiba's shoulder, shaking with the sobs he couldn't stop.

A few minutes later Ryou moved away from Kaiba, his tears slowed, only to find arms locked around him. Ryou froze in shock, his eyes darting to the other's face. Was Kaiba actually _hugging him back?_

Ryou couldn't help noticing that although Kaiba was very tall, he wasn't _as_ much taller than himself as he thought. The brunette's face was startlingly close to his own; he could feel the other's breath on his face. Kaiba's expression was unreadable, his typical scowl firmly in place.

Noticing Ryou's stare, Kaiba's scowl deepened. "You are a neurotic idiot," he growled softly.

Ryou blinked. "I suppose so," he whispered. He wondered if Kaiba had any idea how distracting his eyes were. Honestly. There were other interesting things in the room to look at, he was sure, but those blue eyes had trapped him. He'd heard them described as icy and cold, but it seemed to Ryou now that they were burning hot, little blue flames that were making beads of sweat stand out on his forehead.

Kaiba smirked, and one of his hands lifted to gently run through Ryou's hair. Startled, Ryou had to bite his lip to keep from gasping. Girls had often asked to play with his hair at school, and he let them, since he enjoyed it, but there was something about feeling Kaiba's fingers lightly brush through it that made his stomach flutter and his skin tingle alarmingly.

"You're hair's so soft," Kaiba whispered, his expression fading slightly to something...dare Ryou even think the word _caring_? The change in the other boy's face was remarkable; Ryou found a new contestant for his attention. Between Kaiba's fire-eyes and this smooth, _comfortable_ expression now gazing down at him, Ryou was quite at a loss. He found himself wishing he was better at multi-tasking.

Kaiba's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Damn these stupid teenage hormones," he whispered.

Ryou felt a faint smile on his face. "Yeah," he breathed. "Damn them to hell."

Kaiba's response to this was to find a handhold in Ryou's hair and lean in to softly kiss his bottom lip. Ryou found himself incapable of breathing as the foreign, yet pleasurable sensation of someone else's tongue met his mouth. He parted his own lips, wanting to taste Kaiba for himself, finding that every gentle tug on his hair sent an electric current shooting down his spine to the backs of his knees. Ryou leaned into Kaiba, his hands settling on the brunette's lower back. Their tongues were clashing, now, and Ryou was beginning to realize why he saw so many couples in the midst of such activities in the halls of the high school. He shivered as Kaiba's mouth left his own to plant delicate kisses along his jaw and down his neck. It was all he could do to keep from moaning, his teeth clenching and face flushing at the thought.

For a few moments, all fear was forgotten, except for the vague fear of embarrassment. Ryou sighed quietly when he felt Kaiba's teeth lightly nip at the base of his neck. This...this was...

"Is something wrong?" Kaiba whispered, his lips brushing against Ryou's skin.

Ryou felt himself trembling. He slid his hands further up Kaiba's back, pulling the taller boy closer. "You lost the Duel on purpose," he said quietly, turning his head to kiss Kaiba's ear.

He felt Kaiba smile. "What makes you think that?"

Ryou pulled back enough to look him in the eye. Kaiba's smile had turned into his usual smirk, but Ryou was beginning to wonder if he could read the other boy better than he thought. _So he _did_ lose on purpose._ "Oh, nothing." He slipped his hands up to Kaiba's face and pulled him down for another kiss.

* * *

TeeHee! *sqee!* I absolutely _adore_ Euroshipping (KaibaxRyou), though I'm not entirely sure why...

Though the one Yugioh character who can be shipped with _anyone_ and have it be an awesome ship is Bakura.

Bakura: **_What?!!_**

Shem: *runs off, cackling maniacally*

Yugi: Bakura, it's okay. She's a shipper. It's just what she does.

Bakura: Don't you get it? That means she ships me with _you!_

Yugi: O.O

Bakura: And you!

Yami: *laughs*

Bakura: And you!

Jou: *passes out*

Bakura: And you!

Marik: Well _duh_

Bakura:...what?

Marik: *examines fingernails* apparently you haven't read far enough ahead, tomb robber.

Bakura: Um...*walks off*

Honda: Dear readers, the review button is that one at the bottom of the screen in the middle. Please let shematite know what topping(s) you would like on your horror story. I hear caramel and chocolate are good.

Bakura: And you!


	8. Worth Everything I May Ever Be

**Edit: Of course the one time I post a chapter before having it beta'd is the time when Neonn finds the most for me to change. It's all fixed, now!**

Hello, Readers! Wow! Lots of responses this time. Way to go! And how do I pay back this kindness? By updating late, of course. Many apologies, though to be honest, I'm falling behind on chapters, so maybe it's a good thing. I should see what I can do to get my self back up to five chapters ahead.

**A Perplexing Puzzle - **No need to apologize for being a lurker. Why, I myself am a lurker of the highest degree. I just don't leave reviews very often T.T A habit I should get out of. Honestly. I'm such a hypocrite. Oh, well. I'm so happy you like this story! And I'm happy you're happy I update so much! Yes, Euroshipping is adorable. As soon as I came across it I was all o.O *squeal* I'm also glad you like Yugi. He's...struggling. This fic isn't very kind to him, unfortunately. Blame the Big Bad. And I totally ship you with Bakura ;)

**pride1289 - **Why, hello, favorite squeeble-muffin! One BakuraImean _story_ covered in whipped cream and fudge with a side of ice cream coming up! He goes well with anything! He even matches the decor!

**VampireGirl-978 - **Oh goodness! *hands box of tissues* I didn't think that chapter would make anyone cry! I am honored. Tell your mom that I am to blame. I take that sort of thing well. Blame for insanity, that is. As for this story having a conclusion...Don't worry. It has one. Somewhere. ...KaibaxRyou 4EV!!!1!!1 lolzorz

**Kari Akiyama - **Hurray for throwing off the shackles of anonymity! Er...there may or may not be something wrong with that phrase. Oh, well. Cherries and Armageddon for you, then, deary? Plenty coming up, that's for sure. I feel bad for Yugi and Ryou, too. Ryou seems to be getting better lately, while Yugi's getting worse. And I'm so glad people are enjoying the Euroshipping! I like to pretend I can write cute fluffy romance, even though I seem to take the opportunity to do so in the middle of horror stories. o.O man, nothing says I love you like, "I'm becoming paranoid and more insane by the hour. You are so far up a river in Egypt you wouldn't recognise something as paranormal if little blue aliens landed in your office, summoned Blue-Eyes, and started singing 'It's A Small World After All'. We're perfect for each other! Let's make out!"

As you may or may not have noticed, the chapter titles are in fact following a pattern that doesn't actually make a pattern in any sense except that I say it does. All of the titles in the story are song lyrics or are inspired by song lyrics. I figure I might as well catch you guys up on what we have so far...

**Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend** ... Song: Sound Of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle

**I'm So Much Older Than I Can Take ... **Song: All These Things that I've Done by The Killers

**Sad To Be All Alone In The World ... **Song: They Don't Know from the Thoroughly Modern Millie Soundtrack

**Away From The Wakeful Day ...** Song: Ghost Love Score by Nightwish

**Take My Arms That I Might Reach You ...** once again Sound Of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle. It's the theme song for this fic, I guess.

**My Cards Know something I Don't ... **altered from The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know by Panic at the Disco

**A Wicked And Wild Wind ... **Song: Viva La Vida by Coldplay

**With That Same Speed To Fly ... **Song: If You Could Hie To Kolob by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

**Worth Everything I May Ever Be ...** another line from Ghost Love Score by Nightwish

Enjoy the chapter! I own nothing!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Worth Everything I May Ever Be**

"What?"

That single word, uttered low and flat, managed to express a great deal of surprise but even more anger. It matched the expression on Marik's face: flat, colorless, barely concealing burning rage.

The leader of the small cult, Najja, took a small step away from his comrads and towards Marik where he stood near he center of the musty underground room. "Honored One, we are humbly asking, no, _begging_..."

"Shut up!" Marik snapped. "I heard you the first time. I just couldn't believe you would ask me to do something so stupid." He gestured wildly at the books and scriptures around them. "Honestly! You fools have known this stuff longer than I have! What you're suggesting is just...stupid!"

"Honored One," Najja said smoothly. "We know the dangers. In fact, our order is so small because of the very peril that our beliefs represent." He took another step closer, close enough that Marik could see the faint, empty light gleaming in the man's eyes. "_You_ are the Honored One. _You_ have faced the God of a Thousand Forms and emerged strengthened from the trial. _You_ are quite possibly the most highly qualified human being to walk this earth. We beg of you, the Honored Marik Ishtar, to call upon Him, that we may worship Him." The other two nodded in agreement.

Marik folded his arms across his chest and shook his head in disbelief. These men _had_ to be completely off their rockers. Well, he'd guessed as much about two of them, but it seemed all three were piled on the merry bandwagon headed for the happy farm. "Believe it or not, I'm not suicidal," Marik snapped. "I've read these books and done research on my own. I know what happens to people who cast these spells."

The wild smiles disappeared from the faces across the room from him. "In that case," Najja said quietly. "I'm afraid we cannot allow you to leave."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Honda parked his motorcycle and walked up the wide steps to the library entrance. With Marik still missing in action, he wanted to do something to help Yugi. Since answers from the Egyptian were not coming, Honda had decided to search out answers for himself. Not wanting to involve the police, who were investigating things separately, he only had the clues Yugi had told him: the picture of the Millennium Puzzle and the phrase, "Hail to the High Priest of the Ether".

The library was dim, the fluorescent lights humming in tune with the faint sound of whispers and turning pages. Honda took a deep breath of the old-book air and walked up to the front desk.

"Hey, Miho," he grinned at the girl behind the desk. "Long time no see."

Miho tipped her head and rolled her eyes at him, but she smiled, too. "No, Honda," she said in her quiet librarian voice. "I'm not going on a date with you. I already told you I'm just not that into guys with motorcycles."

Honda pretended not to be hurt by that. "Well, guess what? I'm actually here to look at books and stuff."

She giggled behind her hand. "Is that your new favorite euphemism?"

Deciding to ignore that, since he didn't know what 'euphemism' meant, Honda folded his arms on top of her desk and leaned forward. "I need to look up stuff about something called 'The High Priest of the Ether'. Do you know if the library has any stuff on it?"

Miho gave him a bland look. "Why don't you just google it?"

Honda opened his mouth to respond, and then snapped it shut. "Oh yeah." _I really should have thought of that...this seems like something Jou would do._

She tossed her hair over one shoulder and sighed. "You really are hopeless, Honda. Here. I'll look it up for you right now." Turning to the computer on the desk, she began typing earnestly, giving Honda one last eye-roll.

It only took a few moments for a small frown to appear on her face. "Huh," she said. "Some stuff about a Book of Ether...that mentions a couple of different High Priests. Is that what you are looking for?"

Honda leaned forward a bit more to look at the computer screen. "I dunno," he admitted. "I'm not very good at this sort of thing."

"Well, then, I guess we could specify a bit more. We'll put quotes around it" She did so and hit Enter. "The only hit is an RPG website. Don't you have a friend who likes RPGs?"

Honda sighed. "Um, yeah. That's Bakura. I don't think an RPG is what we're looking for, though." An idea struck him. "See if there's anything in connection with Egypt."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The clattering of Jou searching through the kitchen finally stopped, and Yugi raised his head to see his friend standing in the doorway, a plate of food in each hand.

"Man!" Jounochi exclaimed. "Honda's mom makes some awesome grub." He grinned and set a plate in front of Yugi. Knowing that it was what Jou wanted to see, Yugi smiled at him.

"Jounochi," he said. "She ordered this pizza last night."

"Like I said, she makes awesome grub." the blonde responded as he sat next to Yugi.

Yugi smiled again and bit into his pizza. It was nice having Jou around, making dumb jokes and unswervingly focused on food. The familiar actions and words of his friends were the most comforting thing he could think of.

Jou bit into his pizza and grabbed the remote, switching the channel to a baseball game. "Hey, Yug," he said, his mouth full of cheese and tomato sauce, "What's your puzzle doing on top of the TV?"

Yugi turned to him and gave him a wide smile._ "It gets better reception that way, don't you think?"_

Jou didn't look down. He could feel it, resting against his leg, the edge pressing, demanding attention.

"Jou!"

"Huh?" He looked up into Anzu's face. "When did you get here, Anzu?"

"Like five minutes ago. Gosh, you were so focused on your food you didn't even notice me."

Jou looked down to see his plate completely empty. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Where'd my pizza go? I coulda sworn I'd only taken a bite..."

Anzu rolled her eyes and sat down on the other side of Yugi. "Just go get another piece, Jounochi."

* * *

And thus we see that Jou must be a normal teen-aged boy, since he finished his pizza without noticing it.

Lol.

Now, my dear Readers, I must admit that I am faced with a decision. This fic...is getting much darker than I thought it would. I now have a couple of options... To keep this fic rated T, I would have to tone it down from how it plays out in my head and have several...encounters..happen offscreen, so to speak. So, I am posing a question to my awesome readers. Would you rather I

A) Keep it rated T. Imaginations can fill in the blanks quite nicely, thank you very much.

B) Change the rating to M and have at it. We want to see full blown torture, for crying out loud!

C) Some sort of middle ground, perhaps involving semi-magical time skips and links to the violent/morbid/very, very, bloody scenes at the ends of chapters for those sadists who want to see my attempts at writing such things and/or want to see a favorite character of theirs be slowly broken into little pieces. Literally.

Yugi: This is terrible! Why are you writing this?!

Shem: Because the plot bunny bit me! I totally blame it on the fact that me and my own Friendship Brigade have been playing scary games and watching the Grudge and stuff like that.

Yami: Sure. None of it has to do with the fact that you are a closet sadist yourself.

Shem: Pfft. Whatever, Yami. Maybe between chapters I'll actually go finish that story about you!

Yami: Shadow in the Dark? The one where apparently I think I'm Yugi?

Kaiba: What a loser.

Marik: Next chapter is about me!

Shem: Oh, yeah. Hey, everyone! Chapter 9 is next! The one that's all about Marik! It's really quite short, but it's got lots of Marik. And happiness and sunshine. Because in Horror stories like this one everyone eats rainbows and poops butterflies, and nothing could possibly go wrong when you've been captured by a bunch of insane cultists!

Review!


	9. Forgive Me, I Have But Two Faces

So I went and watched some Yugioh GX yesterday. The first five minutes of the first episode and the last episode. Yeah. Watching it with this fic in mind I was all: _...Dude...Grown-up Yugi is hot and sounds exactly like Yami. Hm...I could totally make the end of this fic lead into GX...So it's all canon-y and stuff...What the crap? What is that Judai Yuki kid doing? Oh man...he is so dead. That's what he gets for using a Kuriboh. With wings. And then going up against Mahaad. Is he suicidal? Oh yeah; my fic isn't actually canon, though I try to make it fit...but if it was he would be so dead right now. Maybe he's actully dead and hallucinating. That works._

It was great.

I wonder what I did to get less reviews this time. *shrugs* Oh, well.

**VampireGirl-978 - **Full blown torture, eh? Sounds good. We'll see if anybody else cares to give their opinion on the matter before I pull out the stops. And Jou ate his pizza! :)

Oh, man. Upon re-reading the chapters that are posted so far, I can say that there are enough clues in the story to figure out what's really going on. There's at least one major clue in every chapter so far, and most chapters have two or three. The really determined reader could probably piece it all together. That is, if they carefully combed through every line of text, weeded out all the peripheral junk, analyzed everything every character said in _every way_ it could possibly be taken, and _then_ google searched EVERYTHING.

Good luck.

But don't worry. This chapter has lots of answers. And more questions.

This chapter title brought to you from the song Poet and the Pendulum by Nightwish

I own absolutely nothing.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Forgive Me, I Have But Two Faces**

Marik had lost track of how long he'd been sitting in the dusty room, the sand from the floor turning into grit against his eyelids and caking his scalp. Oil lamps flickered in the corners, the yellow light doing little to illuminate and more to obscure. There was always one of the cultists there, watching him. They never did anything as long as he didn't try to leave, so he kept himself occupied and distracted from his new imprisonment by reading.

He'd realized a long time ago that the collection of books was focused around a whole pantheon of gods he had never heard of. It seemed like the cultists had tried to gather every scrap of writing that even mentioned a passing connection to these gods, no matter the context. Many of the books were harmless.

The rest, however, were most definitely _not_ harmless. The very words on the page felt heavy, scraping against the mind, gradually wearing away at it. Some of them not so gradually. Some words hurt to look at; they stabbed at the eyes and burned all the way through the brain to the back of his skull. Marik quickly understood that this was what must have driven these cultists mad. The words lurked just behind the eyes, others smoldered at the base of the skull, the faint pounding of drums running just counter to heartbeats and not quite loud enough to hear.

And then there was this Priest of the Ether. Marik could feel the faceless image behind him, mindless and mad, burning into the back of his neck. He looked down at the book he held loosely in his hands. He'd stumbled across the spell several weeks ago. The yellowing pages were covered in round, careful handwriting, supposedly describing how to summon the Priest of the Ether. Marik wasn't sure that it would actually accomplish what the cultists wanted, but even if it didn't, it looked dangerous, calling on more dark things that pressed against his mind.

A sound echoed down the dark hallway that led to the room. Marik didn't react to it. The cultists frequently changed who was watching him. What made his eyes widen and his head snap up in alarm was a familiar voice calling out.

"Ishizu!" he breathed, focusing his glare on Nadar, who was giggling and hiccuping in the corner. "What are you doing with her?!" He stood and closed the book, intending to either brain the man with the heavy volume or just strangle him with his bare hands.

"Honored One, that would be unwise," rang that chilling voice from the doorway. Marik whipped around to snarl at Najja, who was holding a knife to Ishizu's throat.

"Marik!" she cried happily, only to flinch as the knife pressed closer to her. Marik's eyes widened as people began to enter the room. He'd never seen anyone down here except the first three he met, and he'd assumed that those three were all there was in the cult. A mistake, he realized, as more than a dozen people crowded into the front of the room, the last two dragging an unconscious Rishid between them.

"You see, Honored One," Najja said, an empty smile crossing his face. "We should have taken into account your possible noncooperation. It would have saved us a great deal of time if we had captured these two at the very beginning, don't you agree?"

Marik stared at Ishizu, hope flickering and dying in his chest. She saw it in his face and shook her head slightly. "Marik, don't..."

"You will stay silent or die," Najja interrupted smoothly. "Now, Honored One. You have the book. You know the spell. You can see how important this is to us." His gaze shifted from side to side, somehow encompassing all present.

Marik took a step back, the stupid book clenched in his hands, sand scathing over his skin under his clothes. _What a time to suddenly wish for a bath..._

"Honored One," Najja said again. Marik was beginning to truly hate those words. "I believe you may have noticed that some of my brethren are very...excited. It would be unfortunate if an accident were to happen to those you care about due to mybrethren's anxiety at your delay."

Marik glared at him. "Right now, then. You just want me to summon your god right now?"

Najja smiled. "Yes, please."

It felt like hot stones were sinking into Marik's stomach. His head ached just behind his eyes, pulsing in a rhythm just unnatural enough to drive him to distraction. _How did I get into this?_ His fingers opened the book as he did his best to ignore the look on Ishizu's face. He supposed it was possible she was more worried for him than she was for herself, but he couldn't let them hurt her. He'd already hurt her more than she deserved. And Rishid... Marik gazed at his brother for a few moments, grieving for all the pain he'd allowed.

Finding the page, Marik realized he didn't need the book. The spell had burned itself into his mind. Taking a deep breath, and not looking at Ishizu, he bowed his head and began.

One of the books he had found had said that some sort of dance was the fool-proof way to summon the Priest of the Ether, Chaos Made Flesh, but it hadn't gone into any detail about such a dance, so Marik had dismissed it. It was therefore to his surprise to find his limbs moving on their own, slowly and erratically. Drums pounded in his head, their beats following no rhythm his mind could understand, and his arms and legs moved. Marik started to panic. Was this supposed to happen? What was going on?

A distant wailing picked up the non-rhythm, weaving around it and ensnaring Marik's breathing. His ears caught the sound of Ishizu screaming, her voice cutting through the spell. Marik jerked to a halt, his breathing fast and uncontrolled. A few breaths later and he opened his eyes to a whole new nightmare.

Ishizu was still screaming, her voice filled with desperation and pain. Marik's eyes, however, were focused on Rishid's writhing form. The cultists holding him had dropped him and stepped back, their faces pale as his skin began to split, his flesh ripping apart like paper. A cluster of spindly bones burst out of his back, dousing those closest in blood. As Marik watched in horror, Rishid's mouth opened to release dozens of thin, long tentacles. The sickly grey limbs latched onto the nearest cultists and began burrowing beneath their skin, their screaming driving into Marik's brain. A series of sharp _snaps_ echoed in the room, and Marik could see Rishid's bones breaking one by one.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the monster erupting from his friend. He lashed out at the hand, struggling to free himself.

"Stop it, you idiot!" A gruff voice snapped. "We have to get out of here. NOW!"

Stunned, Marik let himself be dragged past the monster now happily devouring white-robed bodies. For a moment, three violent red eyes met his, and for even less of a moment he could have sworn one _winked_ at him. It was not to communicate a shared joke, but to promise that those eyes would meet his again, and he would not escape that meeting.

Entering the long tunnel that led to the surface, Marik finally turned his gaze to his rescuer. The shock of white hair immediately identified him, even though he was covered in blood, the substance dripping from the white robe he was wearing. A pale scar across his face contrasted with his rough, tanned skin.

"Bakura?" Marik breathed.

The thief snarled and his grip on Marik tightened. It wasn't until they stepped out of the mouth of a cave into the desert night that Bakura whirled to face Marik. When he spoke, it was low, desperate, and hopeless.

"What have you done, Marik?"

* * *

Duhn _duhn **DUHN!!!!**_

Well, there you have it. Not very long, but it doesn't need to be.

BAKURA!!!!!!1!!!!1111!!!11! 33333 Bakura! You're in the story!

Bakura: *grumble*

Shem: what was that?

Bakura: *more grumbling*

Shem: Um...Yami? A little help here?

Yami: *coughs* I'm probably not the best person, all things considered. *twiddles thumbs*

Shem: Okay, then...Ryou!

Ryou: What's wrong, Bakura?

Bakura: I read far enough ahead to find out who dies in this fic.

Shem: Oh. Well. That'll do it.

Ryou: It will?

Shem: *runs away* *yells over shoulder* Don't forget to review! And let me know about keepng the rating T or changing to M!!!


	10. The ColdHearted Boy I Used To Be

So, my new favorite upcoming scene is in chapter twelve, but this chapter has some fun stuff in it. Jou goes penny-fishing! Anzu is a voyeur! Yugi climbs a tree and almost falls out! All in this exciting episode of...this!

**pride1289 - **It's so short because...because...because Marik wanted a whole chapter to himself. Selfish of him, yes. Did we get an awesome chapter with a cliffhanger at the end? Yes. And I'm glad you're too lazy to try to figure out the plot. Sometimes I still feel like things are too obvious. Then again...as Neonn was reading over chapter thirteen for me today she pointed out a few things that were unclear even to her, and she's knows what's going on!

**VampireGirl-978 - **Yes, I'm happy to see you! Still all for the torture, eh? I'm not even sure I will be able to write it. This story may end up being M for showing the _aftermath_ of said...encounters. As for Bakura, yes he rocks hardcore, like a hurricane. I...ahem...can't make any promises to not kill him off, although there's still a possibility that he will survive. He might not be very happy about it, though. o.O I'm glad I could help with your writer's block!

**Kari Akiyama - **So you're rooting for the torture as well, eh? Well, there will definitely be a scene or two involving such creative toys as duct tape and lemon juice. Wait, did I say lemon juice? I wasn't planning on using lemon juice...I meant to say hydrochloric acid. Lemon juice isn't quite acidic enough for what I had in mind. See? Dark recesses explored.

The mystery is getting thicker: Who killed Grandpa? What is this Priest of the Ether thingy? What's wrong with Kaiba? Did Ryou's dad _really_ just go crazy and kill himself? Is Yugi going to be okay? When are Ryou and Kaiba going to finally just tear off each other's clothes and screw each other senseless? Will Yugi ever get clothes that fit him? Will Yami ever come back? Why is Jou having visions/dreams/hallucinations about the Millenium Puzzle? Will Honda ever convince Miho to go out with him? Are the cultists really dead?

Okay, yeah, that last one isn't much of a mystery. They were eated. Of course they're dead.

This chapter's title is from the song All These Things That I've Done by The Killers

Thanks for beta-ing, Neonn!

Kazuki Takahashi owns the world!

* * *

**Chapter Ten: The Cold-Hearted Boy I Used To Be**

Honda sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He cast a resentful glare up at the sun. You'd think that since it was summer with no clouds and no wind it would be hot out, but it was cool enough in the shade to make their little group shiver. They'd all decided to go to the park, hoping it would lift Yugi's spirits a bit, but so far they hadn't had any luck. The light was bright and white, casting small, dark shadows under the trees as they stood motionless.

"We should play something," Jou said. "Anyone got any ideas?"

It felt good to have Jou back with them. The spazzy blonde sometimes felt like the glue that held them all together, kept them from flying apart. With Jou around, Honda didn't feel like he had to constantly be by Yugi's side; he could let Jou sit on his couch and eat all the food in the fridge and crack immature jokes that almost made Yugi smile.

"Something fun!" Anzu chimed in. "Like tag or something."

Honda smiled. "Or maybe sardines. You know...that one game where only one person hides and everyone else has to find them."

Anzu grinned and slipped her hand into Yugi's. "What do you think, Yugi?" she asked softly. "What game do you want to play?"

The King of Games visibly brought his attention back to the group from wherever his thoughts had been. "Oh, I don't know," he said. "Sardines sounds kind of fun."

After a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors, it was determined that Anzu would get to hide first. "No peeking!" She teased after the boys had all closed their eyes. As they began to count out loud to fifty, Honda tried to listen for which direction her footsteps went.

"Ready or not, here we come!" Jounochi cried as their eyes opened. "Alright! Last one to find her loses!"

"That'll definitely be you," Honda jabbed. "Come on, Yugi. Let's go find her!"

Yugi smiled at his friends. "Alright!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Jounochi ran, a grin on his face, his feet pounding against the sidewalk as he raced toward the fountain in the middle of the park. He could have sworn he heard Anzu run this way. He'd find in her no time!

Slowing as he neared the fountain, Jou looked around him, craning his neck to peer under benches and bushes and up into trees. So far nothing but a Burger World bag and two birds. He stepped up on the rim of the fountain to scan the area.

A cloud moved over the sun. Jou shivered in the sudden drop in temperature. _Stupid cloud._ Suddenly the smell of a nearby garbage can became apparent, and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. The mist from the fountain condensed on his skin. The cloud drifted away.

The gleam of something caught his eye. Turning his head to get a better look, Jounochi felt his breath catch in his throat.

_It's okay! I know Jounochi-kun is just trying to help me! He's helping me be a man!_

Jou staggered into the water, soaking his jeans up to his knees.

_He didn't notice it was gone, but the puzzle is useless without it! Without this piece, his riddle becomes, 'It was a treasure, but now it's a lost treasure'!_

The water felt strangely hot against his skin as he reached under the surface for that glimmer of gold.

_The person who solves this puzzle will have one wish granted, like DragonBall!_

Sharp edges cut into his hand, staining the water pink as he pulled it out. He could feel the eye pressed against his palm, the metal burning and seething as it glared through his flesh into his soul.

"Hey! Jou!"

That was Honda's voice, shouting at him from the other side of some bushes. "Think she's hiding in the fountain?"

Jou returned his grin. "No, just getting something I..." Nothing was in his hands, his fist clenched tight so his fingernails dug into the skin. He wasn't bleeding, and he couldn't smell anything but grass, water, and sunshine.

"What?" grinned Honda. "Did you see some pennies?"

Jou waded out of the fountain. "Hey, do I look like the kind of guy who would steal pennies from a water fountain?"

"Yes."

"Come back here, you two-timing, lazy..."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Anzu leaned back against the tree trunk with a sigh. It was starting to get a little uncomfortable, waiting for those guys to find her. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and looked at the time. It'd already been fifteen minutes! None of them had even walked past her hiding spot, up in the maple tree by the swingset.

It was a very good thing that she had something interesting to occupy her while she hid. Over on the swingset, for the last ten minutes, there had been a very odd trio. It seemed Seto Kaiba had decided to use an afternoon to take his little brother to the park. That in itself wasn't _too_ much of a stretch, but _Ryou_ was with him as well.

Mokuba laughed in delight as he swing himself higher and higher, making Ryou nervous, from the look on his face. Kaiba simply stood to the side, almost managing to look like a normal teenager in jeans and a Blue-Eyes T-shirt, if it weren't for his usual cocky stance and scowl.

A cloud moved over the sun. Anzu rubbed her arms as goosebumps stood out, watching as Ryou suddenly froze. She wondered what he was doing, then watched as Kaiba very calmly reached over and grabbed Ryou's arm. The motion seemed...possesive, as well as protective. Kaiba's scowl faded slightly as Ryou looked at him, then relaxed and went back to watching Mokuba swing. Only then did Kaiba release Ryou's arm.

Well that was...odd. Anzu smiled. Oddly cute. Had the two of them finally found friends in each other, then? She watched as Ryou slipped his hand into Kaiba's. Or...more than friends?

Anzu checked the time on her phone again when the three of them left, Kaiba walking hand in hand with his brother and Ryou. Nearly half an hour of hiding, now. Were the boys even _looking_ for her?

"Hey, Anzu!"

She nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. "Yugi!" she gasped. "Don't scare me like that!"

Yugi gave her a small smile as he started climbing the tree. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to." He was taller than he had been even at the beginning of summer, easily reaching branches that used to be out of his grasp. Anzu couldn't help but notice how much he had changed in appearance, his face slimmer and his shoulders broader, his eyes more serious.

"You nearly made me fall out of the tree, Yugi," she teased, reaching over to poke his ribs once he came within reach.

"Ouch," he said, seating himself on the branch next to her.

"Liar," Anzu scoffed. "You aren't that fragile."

"Only around you."

His face turned red, and he suddenly became very interested in the leaves on the other side of the tree. "So," he said quickly. "No sign of Jou and Honda?"

"No," Anzu replied. She looked at him. His eyes were so dark, now, after all that had happened lately. It was rare that they were actually focused on things everyone else could see. Nearly a week had past, and he was only just beginning to smile a little, but it still didn't look real.

"Yugi," she said softly. "How are you holding up?"

He turned his head toward her and gave her an empty smile. "I'm doing fine. Much better, really. I'm glad you guys brought me to the park today. It's really helped."

Anzu clicked her tongue in exasperation. "Yugi, you've _never_ been able to fool me like that. You can talk to me." She reached over and grabbed his hand, half expecting him to jerk away. He didn't, though, just stared down at their hands. Tiny flickers of emotion crossed his face, so fast Anzu couldn't identify them.

"I can still see it," Yugi whispered, his blonde bangs obscuring her view of his expression. "If I close my eyes for too long, I know I'll start screaming, and I won't be able to stop." He was trembling, now. Anzu tightened her grip on him. "Everything's red. All the time, Anzu. Why? Why would anyone do this? Were they trying to send me a message? I already knew."

His head bowed and his voice cracked. "I'm alone."

Anzu's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "No you're not..."

Yugi's head whipped around, his eyes burning into her. "Yes, Anzu! Spare me the friendship speech; I already know what you're going to say. You don't understand, and you never have." He turned slightly more towards her. "The other half of my soul is _gone_. He's never coming back, no matter how much I want him to, no matter how hard I try to pretend he's still here, that my mind isn't more empty than it should be. Anzu..."

He scooted closer, his voice dropping, his eyes pleading. "Anzu, I'm half dead already. I can't hide it from myself. Even before Grandpa...even before that I knew I was alone, and the message they left me...It was for _me_, Anzu. I'm so lonely and I don't know what I'm doing any more."

For a few moments, Anzu didn't say anything. She tried to think about what he said, to think about how she had felt when Yami left, and imagine that feeling multiplied, and how that still wouldn't come close to what Yugi felt.

"Alright, Yugi," she said. "I'll spare you the friendship speech. Instead, I need you to give it to me."

She could tell he was shocked by this, his eyes widening slightly as he pulled away from her. "You want _me_ to..." He sighed. "Fine. Friends stick together, no matter what. Even when bad things happen, we stand by each other. When terrible things happen, we hold each other up. But, Anzu, I can't ask you and Jou and Honda to always stay with me, to never leave me alone."

Anzu smiled. "That's right. You can't. We'll do it anyway, Yugi. That's why you're not asking us."

He stared at her for a few moments, then gave her a wide, almost-sincere smile. "Thank you, Anzu."

For about thirty seconds, neither of them said anything, and then Yugi's face flushed bright red. "Um...Anzu...I have a question."

Much to her chagrin, Anzu felt her own face warming in response. "What is it, Yugi?" _Why does he have to be so cute..._

"C-can I kiss you?"

_See? He's so cute I'm starting to imagine what kissing him would be like. Oh...wait..._

His hand was very carefully resting against her neck, holding her as his lips softly moved against hers. A chill raced through her, making her tremble uncontrollably. Neither of them were really sure of what they were doing, the new sensation strange...but not entirely unpleasant.

"Hey, are we interrupting something?"

This time it was Yugi who jumped, nearly falling out of the tree. Anzu simply glared down at Jounochi and Honda, the pair of them grinning like idiots. It was very hard not to throw something hard and heavy at them.

"Nope," Jounochi responded to Honda. "Looks like they're done, now. Maybe we should play kissing tag next..."

"Ra, just shut up, already," Yugi growled as he ran a hand through his spiky hair, his face ridiculously red.

Anzu couldn't help the giggle that escaped. "Come on, Yugi. Let's go."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When Yugi scrunched his nose, he could feel the sunburn on the tip of it. He smiled and yawned, too tired to actually put on any pajamas, just standing in the middle of the guest bedroom in his boxers, the lights all off. Through the wall, Yugi could barely make out Honda's snoring.

"Mou hitori no boku," he whispered to the dark. "I finally did it. Well, not really. I didn't tell Anzu how I felt about her, but I kissed her. I kissed her, Yami!"

_Abiou, I'm proud of you._

"I'm so happy, Yami." Tears began to roll down his face. "I've never felt like this before, and I'm so glad you're here with me."

_I am, too, Abiou._

"I'm so glad you came back."

_I'm sorry I had to leave you, Abiou, even for a little while._

"I don't have to be alone anymore. Yami, you'll stay with me, right?"

_I'm here, Abiou. We'll be together forever. Just like we always wanted._

"Forever..."

_You'll never be alone again._

_I promise._

_

* * *

_

Yami: Is that really me?

Shem: What do you think?

Yami: I think you want to leave it uncertain, further confusing your readers about what is really going on.

Shem: Good job, Yami.

Next chapter we get to see Marik and Bakura again! I adore thiefshipping by the way. Once again...I ship Bakura with everyone. It seems most people want this rated M. If you object, let me know!

Yugi: Review!


	11. Even Smiles Grow Strange

Dear Readers, I have a confession to make. I committed a grievous sin. I lied :( Jou didn't finish his pizza. Yami ate it.

Yami:What?! You are such a spazz!

Shem: Well, you ate Jou's pizza!

Yami: You can't even prove that! I wasn't anywhere near him! If anyone, you should be blaming _Yugi_. He was right there the whole time. I bet Yugi ate it.

Yugi: Did not!

Shem: Exactly!

Yami: ...what?

Shem: That wasn't Yugi, it was you! Jou always had a hard time telling you apart.

Yami: ...I think I just had aneurysm out of sheer stupidity.

Shem: Or genius, right, Yami?

Yami: x.X

Shem: Oh dear. Well, good thing he's going to come back. Just like last time!

**KageNoNeko - **I'm glad I made you laugh:) This may be a creepy/bloody whatever story, but real life has moments of funny between bad stuff, and moments of bad between funny, so I figured...why not? Kissing tag lol.

**pride1289 - **Your reviews are always the longest XD. Bakura is always sexy. And he gets more sexy time in this chapter. In a towel. And, er, yes. Yugi is...not managing to cope with his circumstances on the most healthy way possible, to put it delicately. And don't worry. As far as I know Marik doesn't get any more chapters to himself. Kaiba gets one, coming up, I think, though it'll be more about other people and Kaiba's reactions to them than about Kaiba doing anything. And if you're really running out of things to do, you can stop being lazy and try to figure out what's going on in this story. Neonn assures me that this fic is about fifty billion times more terrifying when you know what's going on.

Also, my dear readers, I would like to let you all know something. Apparently google likes to customize itself to your web-browsing habits automatically. But then I did the search on Yahoo and got mostly the same results-ish. I googled 'High priest of the ether' to see what Honda and Miho would find in their search on the interwebs. Do you want to know what the great irony in this is? Here I go, looking up some random phrase to see if it will lead me into anything creepy and occult-ish that I can have Miho and Honda look into, and what do I find? _Web pages about my own religion._

Yeah.

I laughed. It's really quite funny. So, most of the information Honda spouts off in this chapter is mostly true. Just keep in mind that any religion can look incredibly stupid/pagan/whatever when someone focuses on one aspect of it and then over-simplifies it. It made me want to be more cautious in how I may ever portray religions, since I have realized that my own is so freaking easy to make look like the Ebil Cult of Satan.

On to the story! This is a nice long chapter, and chapter 12 is even longer! Enjoy! I own nothing, btw.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Even Smiles Grow Strange**

Blinking fiercely in an attempt to get his eyes to adjust faster, Marik entered the dim hotel room. "Bakura?" he called. "I'm back with those clothes you wanted."

The bathroom door opened and Bakura stepped out, wearing only a towel slung haphazardly around his hips. Marik blushed and looked away as the thief snatched the T-shirt and jeans out of his arms. Realizing that Bakura intended to dress right there, Marik whipped around and walked over to the window. The last few days had gone by in a frantic blur, being dragged across the desert by an ancient thief who threatened to slit his throat and leave him every time he tried to question where they were going. Marik wasn't entirely sure how Bakura had managed to get a room in the finest hotel in Cairo, but he was more interested in finding out just what had happened back in the cave.

"We are going to talk, now," Bakura growled. "We may be safe here for a little bit." Marik turned to meet a firey glare. "What the hell did you do, Marik?"

Stunned by the anger in those grey eyes, Marik sank into the leather couch below the window. "What do you mean, Bakura? How did you get here? What happened back there? What was that thing? What happened to my sister?" The words rushed out of his mouth, stumbling over each other in the race. "I don't know what's going on! I just wanted to save my sister!"

Bakura took a couple of steps toward him, the anger in his features only darkening. "Your sister is dead, Marik. As for the other guy, your brother, right? He's lucky he was unconcious before you summoned _it_ into him. How did you get that spell?"

Marik shook his head, his mind taking in the news of his sister slowly, but mourning quickly. His mind and body both knew that he could not mourn her long. She would not want him to, especially if he was in as much danger as Bakura seemed to think he was in. "There were cultists. They wanted me to summon their god for them. They had all these old spellbooks, and the spell was in one of them. Bakura, is it going to come after me?"

"And you _agreed_? Marik, you've done some stupid things before, but this may be the worst." Bakura sank onto one of the beds in the room, staring at his hands. "No, it's not going to come after you, Marik. It's got bigger fish to fry. That, or it's going to let us think we're safe for a while. It's been happy to bat me around up until now, but I've been fighting it so long it may be getting sick of me."

Marik blinked in confusion. It was a little difficult to follow Bakura's rambling. "Wait a second," he said. "You've been fighting the Pharaoh ever since Ancient Egypt...right?"

It was Bakura's turn to look confused. "What? No, the Pharaoh's just been getting in my way. He's _always_ getting in my way. What an idiot. He thinks he's so high and mighty, sticking his nose in business he's best staying far away from. Now he's nothing but a glorified pawn. He's on the board. A pawn. What an idiot."

Bakura's gaze suddenly sharpened and met Marik's. The blonde was beginning to wonder if Bakura was entirely in his right mind. "That's it," the thief said. "That's why it's leaving us alone for now. It's after the Pharaoh. It wants its favorite toy back. Its favorite pawn. Where's the Pharaoh, Marik? The Pharaoh was on the board."

Marik drew a deep breath. "The Pharaoh's gone, Bakura. He moved on to the afterlife after Yugi beat him in a ceremonial duel. I guess you wouldn't know since you were gone by then."

Bakura stared at him, slowly shaking his head. "No. There's something wrong there. It wouldn't let its favorite toy escape so easily. The Pharaoh must still be around somewhere. I wasn't fighting the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was on the board. Just a pawn. He was on the board. It wouldn't let him go. Too easy. It loves its games. He was on the board the whole time."

The thief was beginning to frighten Marik. His eyes flickered between focused and wild, his words repeating and chasing each other. "Bakura?" Marik whispered. "What happened to you?"

Bakura stood and walked over to him, staring down at him with those unnerving grey eyes. "Maybe someday I'll tell you. First, we have to find the Pharaoh."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Wait a second, wait a second," Jounochi said. "Honda, _you_ did _research_?"

Honda sighed, resisting the urge to punch Jou. As much as a good fistfight would relieve some stress, there were more important things going on. He leaned against the window in the booth they were all seated in, eating hamburgers and french fries. "Yes, Jou. Shocking. That's really not the point here."

"What did you find out, Honda?" Yugi asked quietly, his eyes asking for more of Honda than he'd ever asked before. Honda was both excited and nervous. As much as he'd always wanted to help, he'd never really been depended on.

"I had Miho help me look up that phrase, 'High Priest of the Ether'. We couldn't really find much on the phrase itself, but we found out about this freaky Christian cult that has a book called 'The Book of Ether' that has lots of stuff about this ancient line of High Priests that ruled over the Aztecs...or something like that. It was pretty confusing. I'm pretty sure there was something about pre-historic submarines, too. If you didn't get in the submarines you died."

Yugi looked extremely confused, and Honda didn't blame him. It was pretty odd. "Honda, I appreciate the help, but that's a pretty long shot..."

Honda held up a hand. "Did I mention that this Book of Ether is written in Egyptian?"

Anzu let out a quiet gasp. The rest of the little table sat quietly for a few moments, thinking about what Honda told them.

"Maybe," Jou said slowly. "We should look into this a bit more. What else did you find out, Honda?"

Honda shrugged uncomfortably. "I did the best I could to remember the important bits. The submarines just kind of stuck. If you guys want, we can go to the library after we eat and see what else Miho managed to find on this cult."

Anzu grinned. "Fess up, Honda. What did you have to do to get her to agree to this?"

Honda frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, Anzu."

She rolled her eyes and winked at Yugi. "Sure."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

At first, Kaiba wasn't sure what had woken him up. He wasn't even sure he was awake until he saw the red glowing numbers of his alarm clock. _Why the hell am I awake at three in the..._

He heard it this time, the faint sound of someone crying outside his door. Slipping out of bed, he sighed and ran a hand through his messed-up hair. It had been a long time since Mokuba had come to his room after having a nightmare. The last time was after he watched _The Ring_ without Seto's permission. That had not gone well, no pun intended.

Opening the door, Kaiba was immediately tackled by someone much taller than Mokuba, fine white hair tickling his nose as he was knocked to the ground. Slender arms wound so tightly around his torso he could barely breathe.

Kaiba grimaced. "Idiot," he muttered.

After a few unsteady breaths, Ryou managed to get out a few words. "...s-sorry...had a nightmare..." before erupting into a new round of quiet sobs.

Managing to sit up, even with the idiot clinging to him like a barnacle, Kaiba eased his own arms around those thin shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting manner. Of course, once again those stupid teenage hormones began to quickly complicate things.

It took six minutes for the boy to calm down, according to Kaiba's alarm clock. "I'm sorry," Ryou mumbled. "I...I'll just go back to my room, now."

Kaiba tightened his grip, keeping the shorter boy in his lap on the floor. "Idiot," he muttered. "It isn't nothing if you come all the way to my room without turning on any lights."

Ryou shuddered, his hands twisting into the fabric of Kaiba's shirt. "I...I didn't want to turn on any lights, after that nightmare. The dark hides stuff, and in my dream it was hiding stuff to protect me, and when it left..." Kaiba felt him spasm, his body violently trying to reject his nightmare. "I don't want to see it, Kaiba! There was so much blood! It was ripping its way out, breaking everything it could, because it could, and I could feel my own bones breaking. The tentacles started eating all the other people, and there wasn't any way to stop it! I want the darkness back! It was protecting me! I want my yami back..."

Kaiba held Ryou close, his heart pounding as the other boy slowly began to fall back asleep. Carefully, he picked Ryou up and carried him over to his bed. "Moron," he growled softly as he kissed Ryou's forehead. "You have me, now. I'll protect you."

The two boys slept in the giant bed, curled against each other peacefully. That is, until Mokuba found them in the morning and decided to jump on them, waking them from their dreams.

* * *

Awww! Teh cute!

So in summary, Bakura's even more psychotic than usual, Honda is obsessed with submarines and librarians, and Kaiba finally gets Ryou in bed *smirk*.

Stayed tuned for the next exciting chapter, in which the library is backwards, Marik plays tag in an airport, Red-Eyes fails to save Jounochi, Ryou is mistaken for a children's trading card, Anzu drinks a Diet Coke, and Honda threatens Yugi with clothing.

Reviewing has been clinically proven to increase the life-expectancy of 89% of fanfiction readers.


	12. Someone Like That Soft Haunter

Hello again, my little friends. I totally can't remember if I updated yesterday or the day before. I guess I could go look if I really wanted to, but I don't feel like it.

It looks like Chapter sixteen will be when I have to up the rating. Just, you know, a heads up. Because I'm getting tired of keeping things secret. Just ask pride1289. She asked for some hints, and I sent her several pages of detailed analysis of all the chapters up to twelve:)

**A Perplexing Puzzle - **I'm glad the submarines made you laugh. Neonn laughed, too. :) Seriously. Submarines. It was always one of my least favorite scripture stories growing up, since I thought it would be awful to be stuck in a cramped space with lots of people and goats and supplies and stuff, floating across the Atlantic Ocean, most of the time locked up and probably getting seasick. Just doesn't sound pleasant. But, hey, it makes a good story. And good jokes.

**KageNoNeko - **How right you are. Religion wouldn't be very fun if it wasn't radical at times. I've found it's fun to step back and take a look at your beliefs and well...think about them! I recently concluded that my religion is pretty much the coolest one I know of. We have _submarines_.... Wow...I'm ranting. I should go to bed after I post this XD

**Kirsta Isabella - **Cute little story? Hm...I hadn't really thought of the whole story being cute. The scenes with Kaiba and Ryou certainly are. The whole story? Well...I suppose you must be like those people who buy Cthulu plushies.

**pride1289 - **I like your name. Is it a reference to FMA? probably not. The only thing more fun than giving ominous messages to people in airports is occasionally announcing to empty rooms "I know you're listening". If you're wrong, no one knows. If you're right, you just freaked the crap out of some secret organization. As for your request for clues about what to look for in a read-through...I hope you got my message. I had fun going back over my stuff and actually putting the clues in order, noticing just where certain hints were dropped, and realizing how vague this story really is at this point.

Don't worry, everyone. I just started writing chapter sixteen. It will have blood in it. And acid. I think. Unless I accidentally make it too long and end up splitting it into two chapters for my sanity. Not that there's much remianing at this point. As for those of you who, like pride1289, would like to know what to look for, I suggest taking a very close look at the first two chapters. They contain the most straightforward clues so far.

Thank you for beta-ing, Neonn! You win the internet! And an all-expenses-paid trip to the Shadow Realm, courtesy of Bakura.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Someone Like That Soft Haunter**

Yugi stood with his friends in front of the library, Honda's face red with embarrassment.

"How was I supposed to know the stupid library closes early on Saturdays!" he said, adjusting the collar on his jacket. "Normal places stay open _later_ on Saturdays. It's not my fault the library is backwards!"

Jou shrugged. "No big deal. We can come back on Monday. It's not like the library's going anywhere before then, right Yug?"

Yugi smiled. "That's right, Jou." He knew that whatever it was Honda had found would have to wait a bit longer. Until then, he needed to do something to get Anzu to stop looking at him like he was made of glass. Her hands lifted slightly every time he moved, as if she were ready to reach out and catch him. He appreciated her concern, but it was starting to get annoying. "I have an idea! It's been a while since we dueled, Jou. Let's go to Kaibaland and play!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Marik stared at his hands as they rested in his lap. The people at the Cairo airport drifted across the edges of his vision. A group of elderly tourists from Europe went to board their plane home, several sporting some truly horrendous sunburns. Across the plaza, in the coffee shop, a group of Japanese teenagers giggled and texted and teased while a middle-aged businessman tried to ignore them. It made Marik think of Yugi and his friends joking and laughing as Kaiba hunched over his laptop, doing his best to pretend they didn't exist. It made Marik smile. It made him sad, too. It made him wonder for an instant what his life would have been like if he had been raised out in the world. Would he have close friends? Would he do well in school? Would he play sports?

There was really no use asking such questions. Marik shifted in his seat, wondering how much longer Bakura was going to be. He rubbed his arms, goosebumps standing out on his skin. Was it really necessary to turn the air conditioning so high?

The worst thing was that there was no warning. The people walking by did not adjust their movement to the presence of the figure now striding towards Marik. His footsteps did not join the echoes resounding through the hard space of the airport.

"It's been a while."

Marik couldn't respond to the words he heard, his mouth forgetting how as he stared at the near mirror-image of himself. A primitive instinct froze him in place, terror so unadulterated that the body knows it cannot win, so it locks muscles in place to rely on the chance that the threat has not spotted the prey.

The wide grin on Yami no Marik's face grew. "What? Not even a 'hello' for me?" He chuckled, seating himself on the plastic bench next to Marik. "I must say, Marik, I'm hurt."

_This can't be happening!_ "You...you're dead..."

Marik felt the body next to him chuckle, though he didn't hear anything. "I'm afraid, my dear Marik, that your yami is indeed no longer with you. However, the look on your face was just priceless!"

It was the same feeling as when Marik read those books, that sense that something extremely powerful was wearing away at his mind. For a few moments, he couldn't focus on what was just said to him. "Then...you're not my yami."

Another inaudible chuckle. "No. No, I would like to thank you, however, for summoning me. As I said, it's been a while since I've seen you. You haven't changed much."

_The God of a Thousand Forms. The Blind and Faceless One. The Black Destroyer of Egypt._ "The Faceless Chaos," Marik whispered, not daring to look over at the creature. He wasn't sure he would survive such an act.

"Is that what they're calling me now? Humans can be so creative when it comes to naming things. As I was saying, thank you for summoning me. We wouldn't want things to get dull, now, would we? Boring games are no fun."

Marik felt himself trembling. _What do I do? Ishizu? Yami? What do I do?_ "What do you want with me?"

He felt the shoulder next to his shrug. "I hadn't really thought much about you, really, until you called me. You weren't a part of my plans. Now..."

The thing shifted, moving to kneel next to him, an arm smoothly wrapping around him, tan fingers resting against his skin. "You are very special, my dear Marik. Did you know that thanks to the separation between you and your other personality, you are completely immune to my magic?" Marik tensed as lips lightly brushed against his ear, hot breath tickling his neck and face. "We could play _such_ a game, Marik. You and I. A game to rival all others. I could act to destroy the world, and you could act against me. If I gave you immortality, we could play forever. A never-ending game of cat-and-mouse. An eternal dance of move and counter-move. What do you say, Marik, One Who Would Be King?"

His breath coming fast and uneven, Marik could feel his resistance melting under the hot, rotting touch of the being next to him. _But...Ishizu...I don't want this. I don't want to be a plaything for an evil that will never end. I came far too close before._

"N-no." Marik licked his lips and made himself speak louder. "I don't want immortality. I don't want that."

A loud, dramatic sigh right next to his ear made Marik wince. "That's too bad. Perhaps you'll reconsider later. Well, until then, my dear little Marik, you've been ensnared in an unfinished game between myself and the Thief King. Come and find me, little kings. I'll make sure to have a grand game prepared for when you arrive. So, until then...

_Tag. You're it._

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Looks like Yugi's going to win again," Honda sighed.

Anzu just nodded. Jou had managed to summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon, but he'd been careless enough to let Yugi get both the Silent Swordsman _and_ the Silent Magician on the field.

"It'll be over soon enough," she said. "I'm going to go get a drink, alright?"

Honda nodded. "No problem. If Jou pulls a miracle move, I'll text you."

"Thanks!" Anzu left the duel arena. Clear down the hall she could hear Jou's voice as he declared an attack. _What a spaz_, she thought fondly.

The whole arcade and food court were packed with tons of kids and teens out enjoying their Saturday night. Music blared from speakers and the sounds of laughter and voices filled the air so thickly that it could almost be seen. Lights danced around, lending to the party atmosphere. Approaching the counter to order a drink, Anzu thought she spotted a familiar face. He stood with his back to the wall, his hands behind him. For a moment, a light caught his features at an angle, casting half his face into darkness, just like his favorite card.

"Ryou!" Anzu called out to him.

The white-haired boy jumped, eyes searching for who had called him. When he saw Anzu, a shy smile lit up his face.

"Hi, Anzu," he said. "How are you?"

"Good," she said. "You?"

"Good. What are you doing here? Are you here with Yugi?"

Anzu shrugged one shoulder. "All of us are here. Jou and Yugi are Dueling in one of the arenas." She eyed Ryou, thinking of the scene in the park she had witnessed. "What are _you_ doing here, Ryou?"

It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Anzu thought she saw him blush slightly. "Me? Oh...um...I'm...just waiting for someone."

She smirked. "Oh? Who's that?"

Poor Ryou fidgited with the hem of shirt for a moment, his eyes darting around as he bit his lip. "Well...um...you see...Did you want to get a drink?" He changed the subject abruptly, pointing to the counter where the line had died down for a moment.

Deciding to let him off the hook for now, Anzu smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Do you want one?"

Ryou shook his head. "No, I'm good."

Whether he wanted one or not, he walked her up to the counter and stood with her while she looked over the choices.

"I'll just have a Diet Coke," she finally said to the man behind the counter.

"Coming right up," he said cheerfully. "Bakura-sama, is she with you?"

Anzu turned to see Ryou's face turn bright red. She had to cover a grin with her hand as he did his best to mumble a reply.

"Er, yeah. You really don't have to call me that..."

"Of course, Bakura-sama," the man smiled. "I'll have that drink in just a moment."

Walking away from the counter, Anzu resisted the urge to laugh at the completely flustered look on Ryou's face.

"So," she said. "The person you're waiting for is Kaiba?"

Ryou sighed. "Both of them. Seto is stuck in a business meeting, so I brought Mokuba here to play. He's in the laser tag arena right now, beating on everyone."

Anzu smiled at him. "I'm glad you made friends with him, Ryou. The two of you have always seemed just a little bit lonely." She frowned. "Kaiba's _stuck_ in a business meeting? Is that normal?"

"No," Ryou shook his head. "He usually tries to spend the weekends with Mokuba, but there's been a lawsuit filed against KaibaCorp because some people got hurt playing with the Duel Disks. He's working with people to get it taken care of and keep it quiet and stuff."

"Oh. It doesn't seem fair that Kaiba should have to give up time with his brother just because somebody was stupid and didn't read the directions."

Ryou smiled at her. "Yeah. Something like that."

Anzu took a long sip of her drink. "Let's go see how the end of the Duel between Yugi and Jou went!"

Ryou shook his head. "Thanks for the invite, but I told Mokuba I'd meet him here. Talk to you later?"

She smiled and nodded. "Definitely."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Honda stepped out of the restroom and stretched his arms above his head. Jou had decided that it would be a good idea to challenge Yugi to a repeat match on the spot after getting his butt kicked. That was when Honda had wandered off. Sometimes there was such a thing as watching too many Duels, even if it was nice to see Yugi actually smile a bit.

On his way through the arcade, he saw Yugi walking towards him, hands in his pockets and a slight smile on his face. Red and blue lights flashed from the nearby games, washing Yugi into solid blocks of color. His face was lit with red, the color reflecting deep in his eyes, while his arms were washed blue, pale against his dark shirt.

"Hey, Honda!" Yugi called out. "There you are. I've been looking for you!"

Honda stopped and blinked. "You have?"

Yugi walked up to him and planted his feet. "Yeah. I want to challenge you to a Duel!"

Honda knew at that point that the world had ended. "Okay. Who are you and what have you done with Yugi?"

Yugi smiled, and for a moment, Honda could see the old Yugi, the one that put all he had into everything he did and loved every minute of it. "I ate him, of course! Come on, Honda, I brought an extra deck with me that you can use."

Ojections raised themselves in his head, and Honda did his best to voice them. "But what about your Duel with Jou?"

"I beat him again."

"I'm not very good..."

"You have watched almost every important Duel I have ever fought, and nearly all of Jou's, too."

"I don't know the deck you're giving me."

"It's a pretty basic deck, built with cards that should work together in most combinations. You're smart. You can figure it out. Take your time on each turn to think through your options and you should be fine!"

Running out of excuses he could think of, Honda fell silent, looking down into the hopeful face of his friend.

"Fine," he said. "On one condition."

"What's that?"

Honda grinned. "You have Anzu take you shopping tomorrow. You look like you stole Mokuba's clothes."

Yugi grinned back. "Deal."

* * *

So...considering the conversation between Marik and Mister Faceless Chaos, who here thinks this Duel between Yugi and Honda will go well, with no interference whatsoever from malignant forces?

...

...

Good thinking.

Yami: Wait. I have a question.

Shem: Yes?

Yami: Where am I?

Shem: ...wha...what? What kind of a question is that?

Yami: A perfectly reasonable one.

Shem: Well...that's silly. You are very important to the plot. You're one of my favorite characters, after all.

Yami: Then why haven't you written anything in this story about me? When do I show up?

Shem: ...*flustered* You have an entire other story to yourself! In this story anything from your point of view wouldn't fit!

Yami: That's lame. Do I ever even show up in this story?

Shem: ...um...*goes back to look through her guide to future chapters* Well...Yugi likes to talk to you...a lot... And you may or may not have some sort of appearance in chapter...um...twenty-one.

Bakura: It's better than what she's done to me.

Kaiba: And me. You've turned me into a weakling. You might as well make Ryou the dominant one in the relationship.

Ryou: o.O

Anzu: Review!


	13. Every Gun You Ever Held Went Off

OMFK! Over 1000 hits! w00t! I would have laughed so hard if I had seen it at 1006. Go watch teamfourstar's DBZ abridged.

Look, Vegeta..._locals._

**VampireGirl-978 - ***giggles* no problem! Send me a message or something when you send me a DocX, so I know to go look for it.

**pride1289 - **I've heard of Pride!Ed before:) And that reminds me that I still need to go watch Brotherhood...and the new Tsubasa/xxxHolic OVAs. Shoot. I fail as a fan. Tsubasa is my number one all-time fav manga/anime...mostly manga. I try to ignore the anime and skip to the OVAs. Don't do that if you haven't read the manga, though. In other news, on the other side of the country, I'm excited that you're excited for new chapters! And I love hearing what people think is going to happen. I myself am a crack theory artist:) I love coming up with crazy predictions about what's going to happen next in stories. As for Bakura...and Ryou...and Kaiba...I can just imagine Bakura trying to kill Kaiba when he hears about the two of them. Lolz. Man...that's going to be fun to write, because yes, Bakura will find out. heehee. I'm _so_ evil. Good thing Kaiba's a master of Card Fu. He'll need it once Bakura finds out.

I have now finished chapter sixteen and the rating will, in fact, be changing to M once we hit that chapter :) I know you've all been looking forward to the violence.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Every Gun You Ever Held Went Off**

Standing in front of the Domino Airport, Otogi flipped idly through a gaming magazine. Hawaii wasn't a bad place, he decided as he waited for his car to pick him up. In fact, the idea of building a branch of Black Crown there was beginning to sound better and better. He'd always wanted to learn how to surf.

At the sound of familiar voices, Otogi lowered the magazine and peered over the top. There, in front of the airport, stood a couple of guys he didn't think he'd ever see again. He smirked. He wasn't sure what the two psychos were doing arguing in front of the Domino airport, but it was funny to watch Marik wave a pamphlet emphatically under Bakura's nose, only to have Bakura snatch it away and rip it up.

Otogi grinned and closed the magazine. "Hey! Marik!" he yelled.

They both tensed, The blonde's head whipping around, his eyes searching for the voice that had called to him.

"It's me!" Otogi waved at the pair.

Marik's face immediatly relaxed into a smile. Bakura, however, tensed up even more, his grey eyes flinty and dangerous. As Otogi walked towards them, he wondered when Bakura had gotten so tan. And that scar...

"Do you guys need a ride?" Otogi asked.

"Yes," said Marik, right on top of a "No" from Bakura. They glared at each other for a moment, then conducted a quiet, furiously hissed conversation that Otogi couldn't hear. Apparently Marik came out on top, however.

"Yes," the Egyptian said with a smile. "We need a ride."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"You go first," Yugi called to Honda from across the arena.

"Alright." Honda looked nervously at the cards in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he reassured himself that this was just a game between two friends. Nothing was at stake here, and Yugi wasn't totally gunning for him. Things would be just fine.

"I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack position," Honda announced. The hologram appeared in front of him, the swordsman with his blade at the ready. "Then I place one card face down and end my turn."

Yugi smiled. "See, Honda? You're doing great!" He drew a card. "I play the magic card Fields of Alhazred, which boosts the defense of all monsters I summon while it is in play. I summon Green Gadget in attack mode and use his special ability to move Red Gadget from my deck to my hand. I then place two cards face-down and end my turn."

Honda frowned as he looked across the arena at the Gadget on the field. It looked oddly fuzzy. Maybe there was something wrong with the hologram machines. He mentally shrugged and focused on his cards. Neo had three hundred more attack points than Green Gadget, but one of the cards Yugi put down was probably a trap to protect the Gadget. However, Honda knew from the duels he had watched Yugi in that if he let Yugi get all three Gadgets on the field he was in big trouble. Studying the cards in his hand again, he smiled.

"I use the magic card Reinforcement of the Army to add Gearfried the Iron Knight to my hand. I then summon him in attack position."

"Reveal face-down card!" Yugi called out. "Bottomless Black Hole! Gearfried is now removed from play."

Honda winced as he set aside Gearfried. He hadn't expected that. If he attacked with Neo now, and Yugi used another trap card to destroy him, he would be left wide open for direct attack. He would just have to use his face-down card on Yugi's next turn.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Good try, Honda!" Yugi called encouragingly across the field. "Keep it up!"

"Thanks, Yugi!"

"Now," said Yugi. "I draw. Now I summon Red Gadget to the field."

"Reveal face-down card," Honda said. "Torrential Tribute. All monsters on the field are destroyed."

Yugi actually looked surprised as his Gadgets disappeared. "Good move, Honda," he said. "Red Gadget's special effect brings Yellow Gadget to my hand. I place a card face-down and end my turn."

Honda smiled. This actually wasn't too bad. Neither he nor Yugi had lost any life points, yet. He drew a card. _Huh. A ritual summon card? That should come in handy. _"I play one monster in face-down position," he said, setting Wall of Illusion on the field. "And end my turn."

A puzzled look crossed Yugi's face. He was probably wondering why Honda had played defensively when he had the chance to take the upper hand. It wasn't until Yugi had already drawn his next card that Honda realized he could have used the ritual summon to get an attacking monster on the field.

"I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior," Yugi declared. Honda blinked and squinted his eyes at the hologram. It looked pixelated and distorted.

"Hey, Yugi!" Honda called out. "I think maybe there's something wrong with the hologram projector thingy."

"I noticed. Do you want to stop?"

Honda laughed. "They're just holograms. They don't actually affect the game, right?"

Yugi smiled. "You're right. I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Honda looked down at the ritual card he had drawn last turn. _Ritual of the Faceless, Destroyer of Egypt. Sacrifice two monsters with attack points equaling one thousand or less to summon 'Skeletal Horror'._ Honda smiled. Wall of Illusion on the field had one thousand attack points. In his hand was Man-Eater Bug, but he didn't want to tribute such a useful monster. Not to mention that he couldn't tribute a monster on the same turn he summoned it. He drew. _Just the right card!_

"I summon Mystical Elf in defensive position and end my turn."

Yugi frowned, obviously trying to figure out what Honda was up to. It nearly made Honda laugh out loud. After all, hadn't Yugi made this deck? He should know about this ritual card that needed two monsters with low attack points.

"I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior in defensive mode and end my turn."

Honda smiled as he drew his card. _Mystical Space Typhoon. That'll get rid of any traps he has set for me!_ "I play one card face-down. I then summon a monster in face-down position." Now Man-Eater Bug was on the field. "Now I play Ritual of the Faceless, sacrificing my Mystical Elf and my other face-down card in order to summon Skeletal Horror!"

Yugi's face grew pale. "Honda!" he called out. "That deck isn't supposed to have those cards in it!"

Honda barely heard him, however. The holograms on the field rippled, the light bending and fragmenting as the smell of something rotting filled the air. Honda gagged, his eyes watering from the stench as...something appeared on the field. Elongated bones clacked against each other, still covered in bodily fluids that glistened. Long fingers ended in much longer claws, their edges caked with dried blood and other things that Honda couldn't identify. Its head was still covered in flesh, its black eyes bulging from its deformed head. It towered above the playing field, the ground hissing where fluid dripped from it. All the holograms on the field began to break up, a computerized voice announcing a technical malfunction, and that all Duelists should leave the Duel Arena immediately.

The Skeletal Horror stood alone, its decaying form staying solid in front of Honda.

It turned.

It looked at him.

* * *

Sorry it's so short. I'll probably have another chapter up tomorrow to make up for it.

Transcript of Marik and Bakura's hissed conversation:

_Marik: What the #&! are you doing!_

_Bakura: We can't trust him._

_Marik: Why not?_

_Bakura: Thousand Faces, Marik. Thousand Faces._

_Marik: This is ridiculous. I refuse to let you steal a taxi just because you are paranoid._

_Bakura: What if he..._

_Marik: Shut up, Bakura. We're going with him. If he's the Priest of the Ether, you can slit his throat._

_Bakura: Really?_

_Marik: Really._

_Bakura: ...fine._

And there you have it. Also, don't bother looking up Fields of Alhazred, Ritual of the Faceless, or Skeletal Horror. Those three cards are invented for plot purposes. The rest of the cards exist, and all of Honda's are ones I have. I actually had fun writing a Duel. There are few fanfics with Duels, which is just fine with me. Just be aware that there will be at least one more plot-relevant Duel in this story. XD It should be very exciting. At least...it should be. Considering the circumstances around that Duel, it ought to be _very_ tense. Very. Just in case you were wondering.

Also, it wasn't until I finished writing this chapter that I realized neither landed an attack, and so neither of them lost any life points. I liked how the Duel went, though, so I didn't go back and change anything:)

Reviewing is a part of a nutritious breakfast. Just like Captain Crunch.


	14. Angel Eyes Always Watching Me

Well, here you go, guys. Since chapter thirteen was so short, I posted this one quickly after. Fifteen will be the last of the short chapters, so they may be slightly slower in coming but...longer...oh, gosh, I shouldn't write stuff like this late at night when my mental filter is clogged, so _everything_ starts to look dirty.

**pride1289 - **You really just want Bakura to go charging in somewhere, don't you? :) Bakura, however, has learned through his experiences that charging blindly into a situation, guns blazing, so to speak, isn't always the best option. We'll just have to see what he does. Congratulations, btw. You're very smart.

Yugioh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi:)

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Angel Eyes Always Watching Me**

"It'll be fine, I promise."

Kaiba scowled at Ryou. He could tell Ryou was lying. It was easy, now, after all the time they spent together.

Ryou smiled even wider at Kaiba's silence. "I've taken care of myself before, you know. And you're not leaving me alone. There's tons of servants and people that you keep around this place. I have your cell number so I can call you any time I want, and you promised to always answer when I call. I'll be fine, and your brother needs you."

All of those things were very good arguments, but Kaiba still felt physically ill at the thought of leaving Ryou for ten days. Ten long, unendurable days. Ten days with Mokuba at a CapMon tournament in America. Mokuba needed him to be there.

But...

"I still don't see why you can't come with us," Kaiba growled. "I'll pay for everything, of course, and you won't have to worry about anything..."

Ryou's face grew solemn, his hands reaching up to rest on Kaiba's face. He stared up at the brunette, his eyes searching for something.

"Seto," he said quietly, making Kaiba shiver. "This is something I have to do. I have to show myself that I am strong. I need to know that I'm not a child that needs his hand held through life. I need...I need you to believe in me, Seto. I need you to see that I can be brave."

Ryou's eyes were so open, so earnest. Kaiba could feel himself being pulled into those eyes. He slipped his arms around the smaller boy and buried his face in white hair, inhaling the sweet aroma of the strawberry-scented shampoo Ryou used.

"If you really feel you need this," Kaiba whispered.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Where could he have gone?" Jou growled as he paced in Honda's living room. He, Anzu, and Yugi hadn't heard from Honda since the night before, at the arcade.

Yugi shivered. "I don't know." His dreams had been red last night, but not the same red as usual. Instead of blood, the red had been silk and fire.

_Atem stood at the edge of the city, the wind whipping his cloak around him and sparks into the sky. He felt so afraid and uncertain. The thought of his fallen friends brought a sudden, fierce ache in his chest. He'd been left alone against the coming of the Dark One._

"I don't know," Yugi repeated, staring at his hands. "Like I said, I...don't really remember much after the Duel last night. It's like he just...disappeared." He'd woken up in Honda's guest room this morning, his memories of the night fuzzy and a pounding headache. "I wonder if this is what a hangover feels like."

Jou snorted. "Yugi, you didn't get drunk. Why is he such an idiot? Why doesn't he answer his cell phone?"

Anzu fidgeted with her own phone. "Maybe there isn't a reason to be worried. Maybe he just went somewhere..."

"Without telling us?" Jou demanded. "Without telling _me_?"

"I think Jou's right, something's wrong." said Yugi. He turned his head slightly. "What do you think, Ya-"

Yugi stopped, the blood draining from his face. _I forgot again. He's not really here. Everyone's leaving me. Yami, Grandpa, now Honda..._

Jou and Anzu watched Yugi pull his knees towards his chest, hiding his pale face as he curled up on the couch. They glanced at each other uneasily.

Anzu scooted closer to Yugi, and Jou sat down on the other side of him.

"It'll be alright," Anzu whispered.

"Yeah," Jou breathed. "I'll bet he's fine. Off having a good laugh at us. We should come up with a joke to pull on him when he gets back."

Anzu smiled gratefully at Jou as Yugi raised his head. "We should probably use silly string," he said with a very small smile.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

An odd, warbling tone sounded right next to Honda's ear, jolting him awake. He opened his eyes, blinking to adjust to the muted, grey light. The sound continued, until Honda sleepily realized it was a telephone. Reaching out, he fumbled for the handset and brought it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello! I was just calling to see if you have the new shipment of Duel Disks in yet. My grandson asked for one for his birthday and I need time to wrap it."

As the voice continued, Honda's gaze settled on the boxes and cases around him. It slowly dawned on him that he was at the Kame Game Shop.

"Sorry," he muttered into the phone. "You got the wrong number."

He hung up before the woman on the other end could object and gazed around the room. Everything was coated in a light layer of dust that made him sneeze when he blew it off the countertops. The walls seemed to lean in tiredly against each other, squeezing in towards Honda, waiting to crush him.

Panic beginning to creep up his spine, Honda opened the nearest door and stepped inside. The pitch blackness inside reached out to smother him, entering through his nose and mouth and eyes. He reached out, his fingers searching for the light-switch. Not thinking to hesitate when he felt something wet on the switch, he turned on the light.

Red. Blood coated the walls, vulgar words and symbols painted on every surface in the substance. Honda tried not to look to the middle of the room, having heard from the police and from Yugi about the way him Grandpa had been found.

Human curiosity is one of the world's greatest inevitabilities, however. Trying not to breathe in the sharp smell of blood, Honda saw the fragile, adolescent body sprawled across the floor, blood still seeping into the carpet. With horror, he realized it was still moving, chest rising and falling in gasping breaths.

"Honda," Yugi croaked, his head turning weakly toward the door. "Help...me..."

Yugi's mouth continued to mouth words even as the light fled from his eyes.

"You must continue searching."

Honda jerked back, startled by the voice right next to him. He turned to see a man in long white robes, cloth wound around his head, strange deep eyes staring right into him.

Shadi waved a hand, and Yugi disappeared, along with all the blood. Honda took a deep breath to find even the smell of the blood was gone. The carpet was still stained, however, with what he assumed was Grandpa's blood.

"You must find the answers," Shadi continued. "This must not happen. A very old enemy is approaching. The summoner of Zorc the Dark One has returned to this world, and though his adversary is not the Pharaoh, he will not distinguish between his foe and the innocent."

Honda blinked, his mind staggering. "Wait, why are you still here? I thought...you were here just for the Millennium Items."

Shadi remained silent for several moments. "The Items are sleeping beneath the sand," he said. "I serve the Pharaoh of Darkness wherever and whenever I am called."

Honda shook his head, still trying to make sense of what the Russian was saying. "Do you always have to talk so cryptically?"

Shadi's expression darkened. "Then I will state this clearly. The Pharaoh is in danger. The enemy is one you have met before. Prepare yourself."

He vanished, leaving Honda standing by himself in the room, the brownish stains still visible under the fluorescent light.

* * *

There you have it.

Gah. Tired. Sleep now. Write more tomorrow.


	15. Came The Last Night Of Sadness

...WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWwww.....

First of all, thank you for the reviews! And thank you, all you non-reviewers, for reading anyways. I'm sure you have very interesting opinions. In fact, it is possible that one of you may have noticed something wrong with the last update, and simply chose not to say anything.

I am shocked. No one pointed out a very big problem in the last update. I totally called Shadi a Russian. I'll leave it up until I post chapter 16, so you guys can all go see.

*tsk* You guys are going to have to pay better attention if you're going to put together anything in this mystery:)

**KageNoNeko - **I'm glad you thought 14 was interesting, though I feel like it's such a place-holder chapter. It does, in fact, accomplish some very important things, like get Kaiba out of the way, hint at what happened at the Duel between Yugi and Honda, have more Yugi psychosis, and have Shadi show up and show Honda some disturbing images:) A disturbed Honda equals a Honda who is prone to making mistakes and Genre Blindness.

**pride1289 - **I'm glad you know what SM is. And I'm very sorry you've been sick *hands over sprite and snuggly blanket* Being sick sucks.

**Hikari Kame - **My dear little light turtle, I must say I nearly had a heart attack when I saw my review counter jump by six reviews. Now where to start... I am honored that you like my writing so much *bows* I shall endeavor to maintain a high quality of fanfiction suitable to your refined tastes *wink*. Yes...I actually never would have thought I'd end up writing a YugixAnzu story, since I'm really not a big fan of Anzu...I surprised myself. Updating! Goodness. I shall endeavor to update in a timely manner, though the chapters are getting much longer and so they will be a little further apart than..what...three updates a week? Is that what I've been doing? That's really fast. And finally: I definitely count your reviews as hundreds a piece. I hadn't really thought about why I'm not getting slews and hordes of reviews...but I'm not really going for the approval of the masses with this fic. I've already decided that my next fic will be some super fluffy romance thing told in six chapters or so. This fic, on the other hand...well...it's for my own sadistic purposes. When I started it I figured that I would make a lot of people upset when I torture their favorite characters into insanity, even though some less favorite characters will probably also get some rough treatment. In fact, we're getting pretty close to the point where people are going to get upset with me for killing off people. Ah, well.

I regret nothing! And I don't own Yugioh!

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Came The Last Night Of Sadness**

With a heavy yawn, Otogi crawled out of his bed and began to make his way to the kitchen. Lately, it seemed, he just couldn't stay asleep through the night. He would wake up at least twice a night, get up, get a drink, and go back to bed. It was probably jet lag or something.

Stumbling into his living room, he was greeted by the soft blue glow of the television. He could see the top of someone's head sitting on the couch, but in the dim lighting and from behind, he couldn't tell if it was Marik or Bakura. He'd offered them his apartment to sleep in, and they had accepted, Marik happily and Bakura begrudgingly. He was curious as to what the two of them were up to. Maybe they were going to try to take over the world or something. That could be exciting.

A late night news broadcast came on. As Otogi walked into the kitchen, he could hear the weatherman talking about the ongoing cold spell continuing to break record lows for the time of year. He gulped down a glass of water, filled it back up, and went to sit on the couch. Now he could tell it was Bakura sitting there, scowling at the screen across the room. The news changed to a story that made Otogi sit up and stare at the T.V.

"Five Japanese teenagers were admitted to a cognitive-behavioral institution yesterday with symptoms of hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and violent outbursts. They come from around the country, with the only immediate apparent connection between them being an obsession with the popular Duel Monsters card game. All five recently purchased new Duel Disks from KaibaCorp. KaibaCorp declined to comment at this time."

Otogi chuckled. "Always knew all you Duelists were crazy."

Before he knew it, rough fingers were wrapped around his neck, shoving him back over the armrest of the couch. "Do not joke about such things!" Bakura hissed inches from his mouth, his hair glowing and his face in shadows. "You know not of what you speak!"

Certain that the psycho was about to kill him, Otogi tried to nod, then breathlessly mouthed, "Yes, I won't do it again."

It seemed to satisfy Bakura, who was on the other end of the couch faster than Otogi could blink. Dazed by his near-death experience, he sat up, uneasily rubbing hs throat.

"Ow."

Bakura was slowly shaking his head. "Ignorant fools. And all the better for them. Ignorance is bliss." He looked over at Otogi. "What do you think? Does the game attract the insane or does it drive them insane?"

Otogi coughed uncomfortably and rolled his eyes. "Either way, you're clear over the cuckoo's nest."

Bakura was silent for a few minutes. Otogi began to wonder if Bakura had forgotten he was there.

"Yes," Bakura said slowly. "I suppose I am, as you put it, over the cuckoo's nest."

Still rubbing at his neck, Otogi stood up. "You should go to bed, get some sleep."

Bakura shook his head. "I can't."

"Can't sleep, huh? Need anything to help? I've got some Nyquil, and I hear antihistamines will knock you out..."

"That's not what I meant."

Otogi looked back at Bakura. He was still staring at the television screen, grief etched onto his face. "I can't sleep anymore. I don't know if it's something _he_ did to me, or if it was because Marik's spell went wrong. I haven't slept in two weeks. I lay in bed and never fall asleep. I don't even feel tired."

Bakura drew a deep breath. "I'm not dreaming anymore. He took my dreams away. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back, now. He took my dreams away."

He fell silent, and Otogi quietly went back to his room, trying not to think of the tears reflected on Bakura's face in the blue light.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It wasn't often that Kaiba slept while flying, but he found himself drifting off as the private jet flew over the Pacific Ocean. The clouds around them reminded him of Ryou, though he knew they wouldn't feel anything like his hair to the touch. They would be wet and cold.

His eyes slid closed, his breathing evening out. He dreamed of Ryou, of watching him smile, of teaching him to Duel, of nearly laughing at the expression on his face when he first tried lobster.

He sat at a table, the sounds of children playing around him. A chessboard. He was white. His opponent was black. Ryou stood to the side, watching the game innocently, unaware of the stakes.

"Whoever wins, gets him."

Kaiba looked into Gozaburo's face. "You will not win."

"Won't I? Look again."

The board had changed, Kaiba's pieces outnumbered. His fingers shook as he moved a bishop forward, only to have it killed by a knight. He knew Gozaburo was cheating, but he couldn't see him do it, and unless he could spot the illegal move, the faceless judges around the table would do nothing.

Strategy fled his mind. Every move he knew escaped him as he desperately tried to keep his stepfather from reaching the king.

"How poetic," Gozaburo sneered. "Defending your king to the last. The power of the king relies on Set."

The judges shifted, their white robes gleaming as they bent over the board, gold glinting as they watched.

Kaiba picked up a piece.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Kaiba hesitated, staring at the piece. He couldn't seem to remember how it moved. He didn't even recognize the piece. Setting it back down, he moved his king one square to the right.

Gozaburo laughed. "Check!" he declared.

Frantically, Kaiba moved his rook to take out one of Gozaburo's pawns.

"Check," Gozaburo laughed.

The judges began speaking to each other, muttering sounds that could not be replicated by a human mouth. Kaiba swallowed, and moved his queen.

A wide, evil smile dominated Gozaburo's face. "Checkmate," he said as he destroyed Kaiba's queen.

Kaiba couldn't breath, his eyes darting to Ryou's face. Ryou looked at him, his eyes wide, his face devastated.

"Why didn't you protect me, Kaiba? You promised, didn't you?"

Gozaburo laughed, and the judges fled into darkness. The table disappeared, and the three of them stood in a desert.

"How foolish, you pathetic excuse for a human being," Gozaburo jeered. "How foolish of you to risk something so precious to you in a game so easily disrupted. Now..." He strode over and roughly grabbed Ryou, his hands ripping into his hair and bruising his arms. "You will watch as I destroy him."

As Ryou cried out in pain, Kaiba ran towards him, trying to reach him.

"Seto!"

Kaiba opened his eyes to Mokuba's face peering into his. "We're going to land soon, Seto. I figured you'd want me to wake you up."

Kaiba drew a shaking breath, running a hand through his hair. The dream hadn't felt any more real than any other dream, but it had left him badly shaken. He could feel himself trembling uncontrollably in his seat.

"Seto, are you okay? You look sick. Do you need an airbag?"

"No. I'm fine, Mokuba. If we're landing soon you should go sit down and put on your seatbelt."

Mokuba gave him a smile and scampered over to his seat. Kaiba could hear him muttering to himself about strategies, accompanied by the soft scraping of game pieces against a board. His hands still shaking, Kaiba pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

The phone rang four times. "Hey, there, Seto! Did the plane land already?"

Kaiba swallowed. "Idiot. The plane is just about to land. I'm just calling to make sure you're okay."

"I'm just fine! I went down to the arcade today and beat Mokuba's high score on Mortal Combat. Tomorrow I'm thinking of taking that new deck you helped me put together and going to play in the Duel Arenas at Kaibaland."

"Hn," Kaiba sighed. "Good."

Ryou was quiet for a moment. "Seto?" he said quietly. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course it is!" Kaiba snapped. "Don't be a moron!"

"...If you say so. Call me when you get to the hotel?"

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I want to find my host."

Marik was beginning to wonder how they hadn't been arrested yet, with the way Bakura was acting. The ancient thief was erratic, alternating between eerie stillness and frantic, confused motion. His words chased each other, rotating around irrelevant phrases and fading before reaching any logical conclusion.

Therefore, when Marik actually understood something that Bakura said he wanted, he figured he might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

"I want to find my host," Bakura repeated.

"Yes, Bakura. I know." Marik patted the thief's shoulder consolingly as Otogi shifted gears to turn a corner in his truck. Ryou hadn't been answering his phone, and none of them knew if he even had a cellphone, so they figured they should just go over and see him. Leaving Bakura in the car until after they'd warned the hikari first, of course.

Another five minutes, and Otogi pulled in front of Ryou Bakura's house. Marik reassured Bakura that he would see his host soon, stepped out of the car, and walked up to the door. He ran his fingers through his hair quickly, and then rang the doorbell.

A few moments, and then the pounding of feet running towards the door. It opened to a young child of around five years old. Marik stared at the little boy in shock, and the boy stared back.

Just as Marik decided they'd come to the wrong house, the door was opened further to reveal a young woman holding a wooden spoon, presumably that she had just been stirring something with.

She took one look at Marik's clothes and closed the door halfway, blocking off the little boy from Marik's view. "Can I help you?" she asked suspiciously.

Upon reflection, Marik supposed that his usual attire of sleeveless shirts and chains and leather wasn't exactly trust-inspiring. "Sorry," he muttered, blushing slightly. "I must have the wrong house. I'm just looking for a friend..."

"A teenager with white hair?" the woman said quietly, a small smile appearing.

"Yes!" Marik exclaimed. "Do you know which house is his?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry. He used to live here, but almost two months ago the rent stopped coming, and three weeks ago when the Landowner came to ask for the rent, everything was gone. I still get people asking for him."

Marik stared at her, his mind not wanting to follow her words. Goosebumps stood out along his arms, despite the bright white sunlight.

"I'm sorry I can't be more help," she said softly. "I don't have an address for him or a phone number."

Marik nodded distractedly. "No. Er...thank you. I'll just...thank you."

The door closed, and Marik began to mentally brace himself for Bakura's reaction.

* * *

So, yeah. There you have chapter 15, stuffed with all the most delectable psychosis or however you spell that. I'm not really sure.

For those of you who have figured out/know what is going on: don't worry. Bakura got a little scrambled from Marik's spell. He's not permanently dreamless. I'm not granting our dear antagonist powers than he shouldn't have. He is a god, yes, but not a god of dreams. 'nuff said there, I think.

I had fun writing Kaiba's dream sequence, just so you guys know. Guess what. I've taken a psychology class, and there was a whole chunk of the book about dreaming and studies done on the subject. Movies are horrendously inaccurate. During REM sleep, when someone is dreaming, the body goes into a state of immobility, preventing it from acting out dreams. The mind is vividly hallucinating while the body is effectively paralized. Creepy to think about, isn't it? And when waking from a nightmare, most people don't pop up violently out of bed. They just open their eyes. Night terrors are entirely different things.

You should review, so Yami will give you a hug.


	16. The Door Opened And The Wind Appeared

Yami: Hello, everyone. Shematite's brain is currently missing (it was stolen by aliens, the Wendigo, and Chapter 19), so it is up to me to respond to your reviews and say a few things here.

Well...look at that. The rating's changed.

**pride1289 - **Meh. She hasn't really done all that much with Bakura. All she did was take away what little sanity he had left. This chapter is nice and long, so I hope it satisfies your craving for 'moar'

**shematite - ***sigh* Why are you reviewing your own story? You know it's not healthy for you. And you know full well that you intend to leave things as vague as you can right up until the end. And even then...

**Hikari Kame - **I like the name. Yes. This chapter was definitely filler. In fact, most of the chapters in this story could be removed without any effect on the plot. You should especially ignore anything Bakura says. The tomb robber has finally snapped, and nothing he says makes sense, anyway. Except for maybe that thing he said about me still being around somewhere. That's all he said that's useful. I'm sure shematite appreciates your love, wherever she is. As for the rest, this story was written with a very specific purpose in mind. If shem ever gets around to actually working on 'Shadow in the Dark', you may actually get to see that story is the one meant to explore the hikari/yami relationship, especially between me and my Abiou. Her next fic, as it is currently in her head, should have some interaction between Ryou and Bakura, since, unfortunately for them, there is little of them together in this fic. Don't worry about me, though. I think I may actually show up in this story and get to talk with my Abiou :) And don't worry about shematite writing pure fluff. She probably couldn't manage it if her life depended on it.

**x-hannah-bannana-x - **Well, I'm glad you think everyone is in character, since our dear psychotic authoress does like to think she has a firm grasp on characterization. She worked very hard to make Ryou and Kaiba's relationship believable, since that was really one of the things she felt like she was altering characters to suit her tastes in this fic. Especially Kaiba. As for the plot being thought out, I'd better tell you that I'm the one really coming up with this story. Shem just writes what I tell her, for the most part. For example, she still has no idea what is going to happen to Marik by the end of this story, since I haven't told her yet.

Everyone remember...Shematite does not own Yugioh. I do. I mean Kazuki Takahashi does.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Then The Door Was Opened And The Wind Appeared**

"Where have you been, man?" Jou demanded into the phone. Yugi and Anzu watched anxiously. "We've been worried sick! That is...um...Anzu was worried the most about you."

"I'm down at the Game Shop, Jou," Honda answered. "Something weird happened. I'll start walking back right now."

"No way," Jou snapped. "I'll drive your motorcycle over and pick you up. Don't go anywhere! It's watching us."

"...What's watching us?"

Jou snapped his teeth together. "Nevermind that. I'm coming to get you."

"Don't bother. I'm leaving right now! Don't leave the house."

Jounochi opened his mouth to respond, only to hear a _click_ as the phone at the Game Shop was hung up.

Cursing, Jou hung up as well. "He's at the Game Shop. Moron wants us to stay here while he walks back."

"Fat chance of that happening," Anzu declared. "Let's go get him!"

"I don't know," Yugi said quietly. "There must be something going on, if he told us not to come get him. Maybe we should just wait for him."

Anzu and Jou exchanged glances. They were torn between going to help Honda and protecting Yugi. If he stayed behind, one of them would have to stay, since they couldn't leave Yugi alone.

"How about we all go get him?" Anzu offered. "It's a nice day out. It would be nice to go for a walk outside. We could meet him halfway."

"Sounds good to me," Jou said. "Yugi?"

Yugi looked up at his friends. All three of them gazed down at him, their eyes full of concern.

"Sure," said Yugi. "A walk sounds good. And we'll be together, right?"

Jou gave a thumbs up. Anzu smiled.

_Of course. We'll always be together, Abiou._

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A sharp, cold gust of wind cut around the top of the Duel Tower. Kaiba glared across the space at his opponent. Their battle had been drawn-out, each fighting with everything they had. He could see weariness in Yugi's eyes, but he was too determined to surrender.

"I will not give up, Kaiba!" he shouted across the wind. "I must win this tournament! The entire world depends on the outcome!"

Kaiba sneered. "Spare me the mystical mumbo-jumbo, Yugi. I will win this tournament because I am the better Duelist. It's as simple as that."

The way he stood, solid stance, that arrogant tilt of his head...Kaiba knew that the Yugi across from him was _that_ Yugi. Sure, Yugi was annoying, and he hated to see the title of King of Games held by such a pathetic runt, but _that_ Yugi was something else. Kaiba didn't know if it was a split personality or a reincarnated pharaoh or an alien parasite, and he honestly didn't care. Whatever that other Yugi was, Kaiba hated it. There was something in the back of Kaiba's mind that bore hideous fangs whenever the other Yugi was around. Everything he did rubbed Kaiba the wrong way, from his posture to enunciation to the way he played Duel Monsters.

And there were those nightmares. Kaiba still would wake up in bed, his body drenched in sweat and his muscles seized up in terror, and with the lingering sensation of having every part of him torn, ravaged, and devoured. His limbs would ache, the day after such nightmares. The first time Kaiba had ever encountered Yugi, the other one had seen fit to subject him to the worst torture, experiencing teeth piercing his flesh, eating him while he was still alive, over and over.

Kaiba sneered as he thought of Yugi and his friends, and how they had been so shocked about his actions since then. He wanted to know how _they_ would react if a classmate put them through something like that, beat them, shamed them, and then turned around and offered a hand in friendship. They really shouldn't have been surprised that he refused. Then again, he could tell that none of them knew, really, what the other Yugi was capable of, and he didn't want to tell them.

Seto Kaiba wasn't so cruel as that.

"I summon the Dark Magician!"

White robes, golden headdress and khol-enhanced eyes watched him from across the field. "Look at what you have become, Set," Mahaad said calmly. "You grasp at temporary power and fail to protect even what is most precious to you." The eye in the center of the ring watched him, looking for weakness.

The scene flashed before Kaiba, the Duel that had happened so long ago, between Ryou and Yugi in the Battle City finals. He watched as the Sky Dragon opened its mouth, grinning hidiously as it blasted its magic at Ryou.

"You cannot protect him as you are now, Set. The power of the king _is_ that of Set. You must embrace it!"

Kaiba faced Yugi and the Dark Magician. No...the Pharaoh and his Priest. He spoke words spoken in another life.

"You go too far, Mahaad. It is your task to protect the Pharaoh, but I do not want to see the day I must step in to protect him from you."

"Then see what you love taken from you, Set!"

The Dark Magician turned, and in Yugi's place stood Ryou. "I am the most powerful sorcerer to walk this earth!" Mahaad cried out. "You cannot hope to stand against me, thief!"

Kaiba screamed as the light burned away Ryou's flesh and soul.

He screamed himself awake, shuddering in his twisted sheets. Turning his head into the pillow, he prayed that Mokuba hadn't heard him from the next room over. When no one came after a few minutes, Kaiba let himself cry. He wasn't sure why he wept; the dream with Gozaburo had been far more frightening. Still, the pillow bore the brunt of Kaiba's moment of weakness, muffling his sobs and soaking up the tears. Slowly, Kaiba reasserted control of himself and shuffled into the bathroom to wash his face with cold water.

Checking the clock, and then checking the time in Japan with his cellphone, he dialed.

"Hi."

"Hi," Kaiba said, wondering if his voice sounded strange after crying. "Just calling to check on you."

"Oh...well, to be honest, I was just about to call you, until I worked out the difference in the time zones and figured you would be asleep."

"Idiot," Kaiba growled. "I told you I would answer whenever you call me. Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ryou said, and not so brightly that Kaiba knew he was lying. "I just wanted to talk to you, that's all. Seto...why are you up so late...I mean early?"

Kaiba shrugged, even though Ryou couldn't see him. "How was your day? Did you go the Duel Arena?"

"Yeah! I won three Duels today, Seto! There was this kid from school and a girl I recognized from gym and this guy who kept refering to himself in the third person. 'Johnny Steps is challenging you to a Duel!' It was really fun."

Kaiba couldn't help but smile a little at Ryou's words. "Good."

"Seto? You should go to sleep. I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay."

Kaiba hung up and climbed back into his bed. He did not, however, fall asleep. He knew, with a certainty that felt as though it had been sitting in the back of his mind for thousands of years, that if he slept it would only be to feel teeth scraping against his bones.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Anzu blinked as they rounded the corner and moved out of the shadow of the building into the harsh, white summer sunlight. The light made her head ache, it was so bright. She thought about buying some sunglasses, maybe when she took Yugi shopping.

"There he is!" Yugi said, pointing down the street. Sure enough, there was Honda, walking quickly towards them. He'd already seen them, and he looked like he was unsure whether to be angry or frightened.

"I told you guys to stay at my house," he said once he was close enough that they could hear him. "There's something dangerous coming, I think."

"Whatever," Jounochi said. "We're not stupid. We can tell something is coming, what with everything that's been going on. Fears of the fellow, N- and all that. Why are you wearing that?"

Honda's expression grew confused. Anzu shaded her eyes with her hand so she could see her friends' faces better.

"What are you talking about, Jounochi? I've had this shirt for a whole year. Did you get any sleep?"

Jou blinked. "Never mind. What's going on, Honda? Where did you go, yesterday?"

Honda hesitated. "I...I can't remember. I can't remember how I got to the shop." His eyes flickered behind them. "Is somebody at the house with Yugi?"

Anzu turned around to find the sidewalk behind them empty. A cold feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. "He...he was right here, Honda."

Honda's face turned white. "He's gone?" Anzu took a step back. She'd never seen Honda so worked up before. He was nearly in a blind panic. "We have to find him. Something bad is going to happen, just like Shadi said!"

Jou grabbed Honda's shoulder. "Shadi? He was here?"

"He said Yugi was in danger, and that Bakura was back."

Anzu gasped, a hand lifting to her mouth. The fight with Bakura raced through her mind. He'd been their enemy ever since Yugi put the puzzle together, it seemed. "You guys, we have to find him! What if Bakura got him?"

Jou and Honda nodded. "He was right behind us just a minute ago," said Jou. "He can't have gotten far."

Honda nodded. "Let's go."

The three of them began running down the street. Anzu was just behind the boys when she stumbled, and realized her shoe had come untied. Stooping down, she quickly retied it and stood back up.

There, to the left, across the street, something dark dashed across an alley. Without thinking, Anzu checked the street for cars and ran across, her purse bouncing against her side. It was cold in the alley, grey seeping through colors.

"Yugi?" Anzu called out. Instead of echoing, like she expected, the sound died right in front of her, frozen in the chill air. Still, a clatter came from around the corner.

She walked slowly towards the corner, wondering if she should get her mace out of her purse, just in case. Before she reached it, however, someone stepped into view.

"Yugi!" she cried happily, and ran towards him. He stopped, surprise written on his face. Anzu slowed as she approached him, her eyes taking in details of his appearance. He looked smaller, his grief taking its toll on his body. He was far too thin, leaving his clothes nearly hanging on his frame. She stopped, looking at his eyes. They were darker, approaching red instead of violet. He stood straight and tall, though he only came to her shoulder.

"...Yami?" Anzu breathed. This couldn't be happening; Yami was dead. They'd all seen him walk through the gate into the afterlife.

He blinked. "Dark," he repeated quietly. "Yes, I suppose I am. Darker than death."

His face barely moved when he spoke. He looked like he was in shock. Anzu took a step closer and reached out to put a shaking hand on his shoulder. Slowly, he looked down at her hand. He lifted his hand to grab hers.

"I never told you," he whispered, bringing her hand to his lips. "How much I _loathe_ you."

Startled, she tried to jerk away, but he had her hand in a vice-like grip. "Yami?" she whimpered. "What are you saying?"

He looked up into her eyes. "I think I especially hate it when you talk. How about we take care of that right now?"

He slammed Anzu against the wall, making her cry out in pain. She struggled, trying to get away as he reached into his pocket, a smile stretching his face almost beyond recognition.

"Yes," he whispered. "I think your voice will go first. Cutting out tongues is so...traditional, don't you think? How about we go for something with a bit more of an...exotic flair?"

He let go of her hand only to reach up and grab her jaw faster than she could get away. "Yami..." she cried, tears beginning to stream down her face. _What is going on? This can't be Yami. He wouldn't do this..._

"Yes," he whispered. "It is fitting that the last thing you ever say is my name."

He pried her mouth open, his fingers digging into her face. "I think you should appreciate what is going to happen to you. After all, it's not every day you find syringes of ninety-eight percent sulfuric acid."

Anzu screamed, her legs buckling as the acid entered her mouth, burning and choking. He closed her mouth, preventing her from spitting it out. She struggled to keep from swallowing it, her mouth slowly losing feeling. His hand stayed clenched around her mouth, however, his free hand coming up to massage her throat, his body pressing her against the wall. Finally the reflex kicked in to swallow. It charred her throat; she could feel the damaged skin scraping against itself. He let go of her face and let her fall to the ground, where she lay helplessly clutching at her neck. It hurt to breathe. She spat out some of the acid left in her mouth, and could see charred skin mixed with it.

"Now," he said softly, crouching in front of her. "I think your eyes should go next."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Yugi followed Jou and Honda, his mind still hazy. Jou glanced back, gripping Yugi's arm tightly, his face too pale and worried to really belong to Jounochi. It was cold, far too cold to be summer.

"I still don't know how you got back to Honda's house so fast," Jou growled.

Yugi wasn't sure what to say. He didn't even remember leaving the house.

A car drove past, and Yugi glanced over. Honda stopped, also looking towards the alley across the street. There was a small, hunched figure crumpled against the wall, Anzu's purse a few feet away.

It was as if Yugi couldn't breath, the cold air freezing his lungs with fear. He ran past Jou, who called out after him to stop, and across the street towards the broken girl in the shadows.

"Anzu!" he cried out as he crouched next to her.

As if he had touched her with a hot iron, she jerked away from him, a croaking whimper crawling out of her ruined mouth. Her eyes were closed, the lids slightly sunken, and her pulse fluttered weakly along her neck. In shock, Yugi lifted a finger to lightly trace one of the figures carved into her scarred arm as Jou and Honda knelt one either side of him.

They all recognized the hieroglyphs spelling out Atem's name, repeated over and over along her arms and legs.

* * *

Yami: So...there you have it.

I was going to ask Shem if that was me, but then I realized that was a stupid question.


	17. Cries In The Dark That Nobody Hears

Good grief. I've been struggling with chapter nineteen. Considering that it's a scene I've had in mind since the story started, you'd think it would be easier to write...

Anyways, I gots awesome reviews! Chapter 16 was actually another one that was tricky to write. I'm just not used to writing anything violent, and I feel like the action flows weird or sounds repetitive, so I'm glad people liked it! Er...not liked it? I'm glad people felt bad for Anzu.

**Hikari Kame - **Sorry I can't update as often as I have been, but the chapters are indeed much longer. Chapter 18 so far takes the cake. 2549 words of awesome:)

**x-hannah-banana-x - **lol I totally tried to spell banana wrong. Not to seem like a sick twisted sadist or anything (even though I am...) I'm relieved to hear that my first attempt at something so violent wasn't a complete disaster. Or, actually, _was_ a complete disaster. Poor Anzu! She was so happy to see him...

Warning: the following chapter contains excessive cellphone use, name-dropping, Zorc Necrophades, blackmail, video games, lapis lazuli, Kisara, dragons, candy, clocks, the apocolypse, and no mention whatsoever of the Millennium Rod or Zutara. This is not an Avatar crossover.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: ****Cries In The Dark That Nobody Hears**

Yugi stared at the clock, watching in false fascination as the second hand ticked along its path, the minute hand dragging itself along behind it. Honda sat just under the clock, his head bowed, resting in his hands. Every once in a while, Jou would cross his line of vision, rubbing anxiously at the back of his neck and muttering inaudibly to himself as he paced. When Yugi watched hard enough, he thought he could see the hour hand move. His head ached just behind his eyes, and for a moment he imagined it was because someone else was watching through his eyes, just as anxious as everyone else.

The door to the waiting room opened, and Yugi and Honda jumped to ther feet and Jou stopped pacing as the middle-aged doctor walked in.

Yugi's hopes fell when he saw the doctor's expression.

"It doesn't look good. We've managed to get all the residual acid off her skin and out of her system, and we've treated her for dehydration, hypothermia, and shock. However, she's suffered severe internal damage."

The doctor hesitated. "If she can get through the next twelve hours, she has a chance. Has anyone called her parents?"

Yugi opened his mouth to respond, and then stopped. The three boys looked at each other uneasily.

"We'll take care of that right now," said Jou. The doctor gave them an unreadable look, then nodded and left.

Jou turned to Yugi. "Didn't you grab her cell phone?"

Yugi nodded, his mind still reeling from everything the doctor had said. He pulled the pink phone from his pocket and opened up the contact list.

"Bakura, Dance Studio, Dinosaur, Game Shop, Honda, Jounochi, KaibaCorp, Mai, Marik, Miho, Otogi, Rebecca, Yugi..." Yugi looked up at Honda and Jou. "That's it?"

Jou shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I never thought to ask about her family."

"I thought..." Honda started. "But she..."

"I don't understand," whispered Yugi. "Why aren't there any other numbers in her phone?"

They fell silent, their minds all tracing the same thoughts through the same possibilities. The clock ticked, inexorably counting out the seconds in the thick hospital air.

Someone came into the waiting room and walked over to the receptionist, breaking the little spell on the teenagers. Honda went and sat down in his seat again, his chin on his hands and his elbows on his knees as his brow furrowed in a frown. Jou sat down next to Yugi, and, taking Anzu's phone from Yugi, began going through her short list of contacts for himself.

The clock counted off another four minutes. Honda reached into his own pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed, and looked up to meet Yugi's eyes.

"I've been thinking about what Shadi said," he explained. "I need to talk to Miho and get her to help me look up some more--Hi, Miho. Yeah, remember the research I was doing? ...yeah...well, I got some more clues. I need to see what I can find in connection with the phrase 'Pharaoh of Darkness' and 'Zorc Necrophades' ...with a 'c'...yeah, in connection with the priest...that would be awesome...thanks, Miho. So you'll give me a call? Thanks...bye."

Honda hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He resumed his previous position, chin on his hands, staring at the wall. Jou held Anzu's phone loosely in his hand, no longer really looking at it. Yugi watched them for a moment, noting how wrinkly Honda's clothes looked and Yami's eyes were beginning to look tired and Jou's right shoe was untied.

The silence was shattered every second by the soft tick of the clock.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Round in circles, and we face each other again."

Kaiba's head snapped up to the face in the mirror, the face that should have been his.

"You look surprised to see me. I figure I should tell you, since you can't see yourself."

Kaiba glared. _Another dream. Why do these keep happening?_

"Because you're beginning to remember. You are not a Dreamer, but your dreams do have meaning. You're starting to remember who you are, Dragon-Child of the Ether."

"Are you going to spout Egyptian nonsense at me?" Kaiba snapped.

"But that's the beauty in this game. Whether you believe me or not won't make even the slightest difference in the outcome." A lustful sigh. "Though I do think I would like it if you didn't believe me. It would make what is to come so much more delicious."

Kaiba tried to walk away, to turn away from the mirror, but his feet were lead and his whole body ached when he tried to move.

"You cannot run away from your past, Little Watcher of the Dark. The call has sounded, and things are beginning to awaken that can erase humanity without even knowing it is there. The drums are sounding, and the Great Flame of Tulzscha flickers and greens the cavorting suns. Your truest desire is for power, Dragon-Child of the Ether. I can see it in your heart and eyes, though you deny it. It is a part of you. It is your strength, little Dragon-Child. You are mine."

Breaking words that caught in Kaiba's ears, echoing and crashing against each other as they resounded across the surface of his soul. "Who are you?" he demanded.

A slow, sadistic curve of the lips. "Can't you see the family resemblance?"

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "I asked you a question, and I expect an answer."

The figure threw back his head and laughed. The sounded shocked Kaiba, ringing through the air like the sound of a bell. It was a sound of pure delight, something he hadn't expected.

"You were always so direct. Three thousand years has not changed you as much as you would like to think."

"And you are still avoiding the question," Kaiba stated, crossing his arms.

"I will answer you. I am the Black Beast, Destroyer of Egypt. I am the Lurker Among the Stars and Haunter of the Dark. I am the Tearer of Souls and Render of Flesh. I am the Faceless God of the Desert."

Kaiba tried to ignore the way the epithets writhed through his senses, melting and blackening. "I didn't hear an actual name in there," he whispered, shocked at how dry his throat suddenly was.

Another joyful smile. "The sound of my true name is so beautiful that if I were to say it, your mind would cease to exist."

The phone rang.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

Kaiba sneered. Not responding to the figure, he willed himself awake. He opened his eyes.

It was still there. He stood in front of the mirror, his hands clenching against the edge of the counter so much they hurt. The face in front of him was bronzed with the sun and so absent of any kind of pain or sorrow that it hurt to look at it. Caramel-colored hair curled slightly above his ears, and lapis lazuli eyes gazed at Kaiba with utmost joy. A bright eye glowed golden from the center of his forehead.

"I never said this was a dream, Dragon-Child of the Stars."

The phone kept ringing.

Kaiba felt cold, his body heat evaporating under that burning gaze. He swallowed, his throat still dry, as if he had walked through a desert for days. "What do you want with me?"

The face that looked so much like himself and yet so appallingly different sparked with unheard laughter. "I want to utterly destroy everything you love."

Images flashed before Kaiba: a Pharaoh in a red cloak, a beautiful girl with white hair and blue eyes, a city in the desert, his parents, his brother, his company, everyone he had ever known, the world...

_Ryou._

"Yes. I'm afraid that may have been your greatest mistake yet, Dragon-Child. You picked such a fragile thing to love, and then left it to face the desert night alone. He's much better at lying than you think he is. Is he really alright?"

The thing in the mirror laughed as he released Kaiba, the tolling bell sound following him over to the phone.

"This is Seto Kaiba."

"Oh, hi, Seto!"

"Idiot," Kaiba still couldn't make his voice go louder than a whisper. "What's wrong?"

"...Nothing's wrong, Seto. I was just calling to see how you were doing. Is Mokuba doing well in the tournament?"

"He's doing great," Kaiba growled. "Flattening everyone. Are you sure you're okay? Has anything happened?"

Ryou hesitated. "I'm fine, Seto. Nothing has happened."

Kaiba looked over his shoulder at the mirror. _He_ was still there, rapt with delight as he smiled.

"Seto, what's wrong with your voice?"

Kaiba cleared his throat, his eyes not leaving the thing in the mirror. "Just a little dry."

"Okay. Take care, Seto."

"...I will, idiot."

He hung up and dropped the phone onto the bed. The thing in the mirror crossed its arms. "What are you going to do, Dragon-Child?"

Ryou may be good at lying, but every time Kaiba had called him, worried about him, he'd been there. Nothing had happened. Ryou was fine.

Kaiba, on the other hand, grew more and more frantic and paranoid the longer they were apart. Here he was, hallucinating about freaky mirror-images of himself and dreaming about losing games where Ryou's life was on the line. This couldn't go on.

Tearing his eyes from the mirror, Kaiba walked over to the other side of the bed and grabbed his briefcase. He then walked out of the room, trying to ignore the laughter that followed him. Mokuba's room was the next one, and he knocked before swiping his key card and walking in.

Mokuba looked up from the video game he was playing. "What's going on, Seto?" he asked. "Are we going out to eat?"

Kaiba ran a hand through his hair. "I...I'm going to head back to Japan, Mokuba."

A happy smile lit up Mokuba's face. "Oh, good. I was wondering when you were going to leave."

"...What?"

Mokuba giggled and paused his game. "I can read you like a book, Seto. You've been practically hysterical ever since we left."

Kaiba scowled. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

The younger Kaiba giggled again. "Seto, I'm going to win this tournament and come home and be just fine. If you stay, though, I think you're going to give youself an aneurysm or mental breakdown or something. Go back to Ryou, Seto. I think he needs you more than he thinks he does."

Mokuba met Kaiba's gaze evenly for a moment, then pulled a face and turned back to his game. "If you're still here in an hour, I'm going to the press with the fact that you're gay."

Kaiba's face flushed beet-red, much to his shame. "I am not gay!" he hissed. "I'm...not!"

Mokuba rolled his eyes and blasted through a few more bug-like alien invaders. "Whatever."

The limo ride to the airport gave Kaiba some time to direct his mind at the matter that Mokuba raised. Was he gay? Well...he kissed Ryou...alot...but that was just hormones, right? It wasn't like he was attracted to other guys. He never fantasized about making out with, say, Jounochi. _That_ mental image just made him sneer in derision. On the other end of the scale, he'd never really fantasized about girls either. Kissing a girl didn't even really sound appealing, at this point. Then there was Ryou. What did he really think about him? He thought about the first time he kissed Ryou, the tiny gasp of surprise he barely heard, soft lips against his. And his hair, _damn_, that sinfully soft hair...

About a fourth of the way across the Pacific Ocean, Kaiba decided he was Ryou-sexual.

* * *

Lol...Ryou-sexual.

Enjoy the humor, kids! This may well be the last of it. Except for Bakura, of course.

You guys should let me know what you think is going to happen next! Lets see if anyone has managed to put any clues together.

Of course...this chapters strays dangerously close to not having any clues, because things are said right out. But are you looking at the _right_ things?

Review!


	18. It's Different Now I'm Poor And Aging

So. It sucks when my dad's laptop's hard drive crashes, so he has to use my laptop to do his homework, which cuts into my story-writing time.

And my re-watching of Yugioh Abridged!

"Soon I shall destroy everything you hold dear! I mean...hello."

"It's like something out of H.P. Lovecraft...only _gay!_"

I love it. And if you don't know who H.P. Lovecraft is I _strongly_ urge you to go look him up. Especially if you like horror stories. I sure hope you do. Otherwise you will be terribly disappointed with this story.

So, yeah. Updates will, unfortunately, be very sparse until my dad's computer stops being dead. T.T You guys are all wonderful, though! I love reading your reviews!

**pride1289 - **I like your predictions. They're like what would happen if I were actually feeling kind towards the characters and felt like they should perhaps survive. :)

**KageNoNeko - **I have to admit that I got the idea of Ryou-sexual from a Tsubasa Reservoir icon I saw:) Kurogane isn't gay. He's Fai-sexual. (I've changed my profile icon to it for a while) You're absolutely right about Yugi, too. He is _not_ dealing with things in a manner conducive to...*ahem*...mental stability.

**Hikari Kame - **I'm terribly sorry that you haven't been confused up until now. I've been trying very hard to make this a confusing story, after all. Ah, well... For clarification, Yugi is hallucinating. Big time. Read carefully. He's been wanting Yami back so much, and afraid of being alone, that he's convinced himself that Yami is there with him. You'll get more of that this chapter.

**x-hannah-banana-x - **I know _I'm_ Ryou-sexual. Lol...pixies. Have you seen season zero abridged? Your comment reminded me of episode 5. Atem shows up and starts throwing around the bad guys? ...That would be nice. That would be _really_ nice.

Hey...remember that **shounen-ai** warning?

I thought you would.

This is another chapter that makes this story M-rated.

* * *

I will not detract from the end of this chapter with silly author notes, so I'll put them here. "No, it's not teen-aged hormones, you frickin' retard" means "I love you" in Kaiba-speak. Aren't you glad some questions have been answered? *ebil lafftr* Next chapter is almost entirely Kaiba-centered! Yay!

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: It's Different Now That I'm Poor And Aging**

The sound of a phone ringing jerked Yugi out of the doze he had slipped into. He looked up, rubbing at one of his eyes as Honda jerked his phone out of his pocket.

"It's Miho," he whispered as he flipped it open. "Hello?"

Yugi watched as Honda's eyes lit up. "You found something?" He waited for a few moments, listening intently. "Yeah, no problem. My parents would be fine with that...so...yeah, I'll meet you there. Thanks a ton, Miho!"

Honda stood as he hung up the phone and threw his jacket on. "I'm headed back to my house, guys. Miho might have found out something that can help us."

"You're going back alone?" Jou asked. "What about all that talk about us being in danger? That turned out to be true enough, didn't it?"

Yugi saw Honda's eyes dart to him, and then back to Jou. "I'll be fast, Jounochi. I won't be alone, either. My parents will be there, and Miho. You and Yugi need to stay here, for Anzu."

_Honda's right, Abiou. We need to stay here, with Anzu, and he needs to do this. He's always regretted not being able to do more than cheer you and Jou on from the sidelines._

Yugi nodded. "You're right," he said. "Call us to let us know you're okay when you get there."

Honda smiled. "I will," he replied. "See you later, guys." He turned and walked out the door.

And Yugi and Jounochi returned to their waiting. The heavy air settled around them, nourishing the roots of dread cracking through their hearts.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A wide smile escaped Ryou as he spotted Kaiba striding briskly towards the limo. "Hi, Seto!"

Kaiba only grunted in response, his eyes skimming over Ryou. If it had been anyone else, Ryou would have thought the other person was upset with him, or thought him beneath their notice. He knew Seto, now, though. He saw the way Seto kept his shoulders turned slightly toward him during the limo ride, though they sat in silence. He noticed the protective way he stood and walked when they were near each other. And when Kaiba did look at him, he saw the agressive possesiveness Kaiba felt toward him.

As soon as they walked out of the strange cool summer air into the mansion, Kaiba turned toward Roland.

"Let every staff member know," he said sharply. "From now until tomorrow night at six o'clock, you are all dismissed. I want everyone out of the mansion in ten minutes."

Roland barely had time to bow and say "Yes, Master Kaiba," before Kaiba nearly walked over him, his coattails flaring with the movement. He threw an angry look over his shoulder at Ryou, which Ryou interpreted as Kaiba wanting him to follow.

They made their way through the spacious hallways, servants scurrying to abandon the building within the time limit Kaiba had set. It didn't take them long to reach Kaiba's room. The brunette threw his briefcase in the general direction of his closet, the handle rattling as it struck the floor, before whirling to lock his blazing eyes on Ryou.

"Well?" he sneered.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Honda entered his house, the scent of the cake his mother was baking washing over him. "I'm home!" he called out.

His dad looked up from the newspaper he was reading at the kitchen table. "Welcome home, Hiroto!" he said. "Any news on Anzu?"

Honda hesitated. "It...doesn't look good, from what the doctors say. She had acid burns all over, inside and out."

"Ah," he said slowly. "When you head back to the hospital, your mom and I will go with you."

Honda nodded. "Okay."

"Your friend is here, by the way. She's up in your room. I hope you cleaned it recently." He winked, prompting an eyeroll from Honda.

The stairs creaked as Honda took them two at a time, eager to hear what Miho had found out. Maybe all this craziness would finally be over. Then again, it might just be beginning. He shivered as he walked past an air vent blasting cooled air.

Walking to the end of the hall, he opened the door to his room. Miho was standing by his bed, a slightly nervous look on her face.

"Miho!" Honda said, walking into the room. "How..." He stopped, noting the fear in her eyes. "Miho?"

"Honda," she said quetly, her voice shaking. "I figured it out, I think. You were so focused on anything we found connected to Egypt...I'm surprised I didn't find it sooner. The clues were right there..."

"What is it, Miho?"

"There's something connecting Yugi to a Pharaoh, isn't there? And Bakura-kun...he must have figured it out, too. The Priest of the Ether..."

"...Miho?"

Her eyes snapped back into focus, panic seeping into her voice. "It's him, Honda. The Priest of the Ether was the Priest devoted to the service of the God of Chaos, Set."

"Set," Honda whispered. "You mean Kaiba?"

The door clicked closed behind him. Honda spun around to face the person who had been hiding behind the door.

"I'm so happy!" His smile was so pure and white that Honda could almost feel those teeth cutting into him. "I was worried you wouldn't put it together in time, but you managed it." He took a step forward, white trench coat rustling slightly, his bright-midnight eyes seeing through Honda with delight and fascination. "I've been trying to decide whether I should kill you or erase your mind, and I came to the conclusion: both at the same time would be...sweet to the taste."

He whispered a word, and Honda's last conscious thought was gratitude that he would have the oblivion of madness before physical pain.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I'm not sure what you mean, Seto."

Kaiba's expression hardened. "Why are you so damned happy? You spend I don't know how long sleeping with all the lights on, with all these horrible nightmares, and then you start throwing fits when you try to go out in direct sunlight. And _then_ you tell me to go off to America without you, that you'll be fine, that you need to prove that you can be fine. And all the time away from you I can't focus on anything, worrying that you won't be okay without me, but every time I talk to you, you're doing ten times better than you were at the beginning of all this."

Ryou blinked, watching Kaiba stalk around the room, managing to tangle his legs up in his trenchcoat before finally getting sick of it and ripping the offending article of clothing off and flinging it in the same direction as his briefcase.

"I...didn't ask you to worry about me, Seto. The opposite, really."

Kaiba took a deep breath, his blue eyes piercing Ryou. "I know that, idiot," he said quietly.

Ryou shifted his weight uneasily. "Then why..."

Kaiba took a slow step towards him, the anger beginning to fade from his eyes. "You've proven to yourself that you can do just fine on your own, right?"

"Yes," Ryou said, confused as to where Kaiba was going with this.

A small silence stretched between them.

"Good," Kaiba whispered, taking one more step towards Ryou. "Because while you are fine on your own..."

He hesitated. Ryou wondered how he had ever managed to go for three days without seeing the beautiful boy in front of him.

Kaiba moved, closing the distance between them. "You've proven to me," he breathed. "That I cannot stand to be away from you...Ryou."

The look on Kaiba's face made Ryou forget how to breathe. He realized that for the first time, Kaiba was letting him see under the mask, the stoic, uncaring facade he wore. This boy standing in front of him, so close to him, was more than Ryou had even guessed at before. There was strength there, of course, and fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear that no matter how strong he was, he would never be strong enough. There was kindness, too. It was hidden under the intricacies of Kaiba's mathematical and logical mind, but it was there, nonetheless. There was the uncertainty of adolescence, wonder at his place in the world and confusion about himself.

Ryou shivered as Kaiba's words finally reached him. "Seto," he whispered. "Could...you say that again?"

The fear in Kaiba's eyes flared slightly. "I..."

Not wanting the mask to come back, Ryou reached up and let his hand rest lightly on Kaiba's face. He willed Kaiba to see his own feelings, to know that they were real.

"I can't be away from you...Ryou. Even if you don't need me... I need you."

Ryou reminded himself to breathe, that he had to keep breathing so he could still see Kaiba, so Kaiba wouldn't leave, cutting himself off from the rejection he had kept from himself for so long.

"I think," Ryou said softly, his fingertips trailing down Kaiba's neck. He had to remind himself to keep talking when he felt the other trembling at his touch. "I think I can't go without hearing you say my name. Not now that I've heard it."

He felt a hesitant hand settle on his lower back. "Ryou."

Ryou closed his eyes. It was true. He had been wearing his own mask, trying to keep people away, keep them from looking too deeply, keep them from really seeing him. Kaiba had insisted on looking beneath, at seeing the Ryou under the mask, and he could now say his name like that, like he was the most precious thing in the world.

Lips touched his neck, brushing softly down as fingertips snuck under his shirt, carefully beginning to explore his back. Goosebumps rose where Kaiba touched, and Ryou swallowed as he turned his head to meet Kaiba's mouth with his own.

They were both afraid, though of what they couldn't say. They both knew, however, that they needed this. Ryou could feel his face heating up, blood racing as Kaiba wrapped his arms around him and lowered him to the bed. He looked up into blue eyes, letting his hands trace along flawless skin as Kaiba stared down at him, his lips slightly swollen with kisses.

"This is real," Kaiba whispered.

Ryou forced his eyes to stay open, to meet that blue-flame gaze. "Yes."

Kaiba leaned down to kiss along his collarbone. "If you turn out to be a dream, I'll never forgive you."

Ryou wound his fingers into Kaiba's hair, yanking his head up so their eyes met. "Don't say that, Seto," he whispered harshly. "I need this to be real just as much as you do."

Kaiba's eyes darkened with lust as he began to melt in that hot grey gaze. "Good," he groaned. "Because I need _you_."

Shy and uncertain, nevertheless they forged onward. Ryou had fantasized, certainly, (didn't all teen-aged boys?) but the difference between fantasy and reality was the difference between dipping his fingers in bathwater and swimming over a waterfall. Fear, falling, flying off the edge, plunging from light to dark and floating back up towards light, body aching and adrenaline still pounding through veins as he tried to catch his breath.

Ryou opened his eyes, gazing at the tall, delicate boy next to him. He let his finger trace over Kaiba's lips, prompting the other to open his eyes as well.

A flicker of doubt flashed across Ryou's mind. "Let me guess," he whispered, trying not to let Kaiba hear any sadness in his voice. "Stupid teenage hormones?"

It was quiet for a moment as Ryou's fingers lingered on Kaiba's face. Slowly, Kaiba shifted closer, slipping his arms around Ryou, burying his nose in soft white hair.

"No," Kaiba breathed, almost too quietly for Ryou to hear.

The white-haired hikari smiled, content.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Yugi and Jou walked the two remaining blocks from the bus stop to Honda's house, chatting about Duel Monster strategies and trying to keep from thinking about Anzu's chances. They'd been a bit worried that Honda was taking so long at his house, but he'd called them right before they left the hospital, reassuring them that he was safe and that they should come over.

They slowed as they approached the front door. It looked as though someone had attacked the wood with a permanent marker, though upon closer examination Yugi found he could make out some words.

_And at the last from inner Egypt came  
The strange dark One to whom the fellahs bowed_

Yugi looked over his shoulder at Jou, who was still staring at the marks on the door. "Maybe we should call the police," he said quietly.

Jou's gaze snapped to Yugi. "What are you sayin'? You sayin'...it's got Honda, too?"

Before Yugi could respond, Jou charged past him, bursting through the door. Yugi closed his eyes and threw an arm across his face, not wanting to see what made Jou draw that short, shocked gasp.

A few moments of silence. "Yugi?" Jou whimpered.

Yugi knew he shouldn't look. He could still see Grandpa in front of him, blood everywhere. His arm lowered of its own will, however.

At first, Yugi sighed in relief. There wasn't any blood in the room. It looked as though Honda's nephew had gotten a hold of the duct tape, though, and had decided to redecorate. Jounochi was looking up, his body frozen as he stared at the cieling that Yugi couldn't see.

Telling himself not to look up, Yugi stepped into the room. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he realized he could hear water running upstairs. He glanced to his left and froze.

Honda's parents, their faces blue and eyes bulging, their mouths and noses covered in the silvery tape, were secured to the wall with more tape. Their limbs were bent grotesquely, their feet hanging a foot above the ground.

Yugi wrenched his eyes away from the lifeless bodies. Prompted by some sick curiousity, Yugi glanced up, then continued upstairs when all he saw was a triangle outlined in duct tape, an eye drawn in permanent marker in the center.

He tried to stop in the hallway, when he saw the reddish stain spreading from beneath the bathroom door. His body moved on its own, however, making him feel somewhat like a marionnette on invisible strings.

The bathtub was filled to overflowing, the water spilling over the sides beginning to run a clearer red than the color splattered across the walls, the mirror. Limbs stuck out at odd angles, bloody stubs dripping where fingers had been torn off. Two heads stared at Yugi from where they sat in the sink, Miho's long hair spilling down in a blood-soaked curtain.

The overwhelming smell made him retch. Yugi collapsed to his knees, his stomach emptying itself into the red water running across the floor.

His mind reeled, trying to escape, even as his body refused to obey him. Nothing was making sense, anymore. Nothing made sense but this burning anger, this need to lash out, to find whoever did this and make them feel the same way he did.

Even with his eyes closed he could see the words scrawled across the tile, dripping and running in cracks and staining his mind and they burned where they stained. They gave him a face to hate.

_The Pharaoh's strength is that of He Who Howls Between the Stars_

_Hail to the High Priest of the Ether_

_Lord of the Desert, Chaos Incarnate_

_Set._


	19. You Would Kill For This

*tears* It took me way too long to write chapter 21. Stupid duels with their stupid awesome metaphorical imagery and symbolification and stuff. I re-read the last manga volume (which is beautiful) to write down what cards Yugi uses in the Ritual Duel and I would just like to say ZOMFK that Duel is so fetching symbolic it's not even funny. It's just awesome.

Yeah. Reading Yugioh with the background for this fic in mind certainly puts a different spin on things. Especially in Millennium World. And can I just say GOOD GRIEF Yami is scary and violent most of the way through Duelist Kingdom! And I'm not even going to get _started_ on Kaiba! Even the _Japanese_ anime toned him down!

All of which made chapter 21 that much more fun to write. Or violent. Violent and fun.

ye-ah! We've surpassed the 50 reviews mark!

**x-hannah-banana-x - **GOOD! I want you to be confused. XD I would be very sad if all confusion ended before we got to the end of the story.

**KageNoNeko - **Probably not and...probably not. We've jumped off the slippery slope, now. At least chapter twenty gives a little smidgen of humor. Or, at least what I think is humor. I think Bakura calling himself a pirate is pretty funny.

**pride1289 - **Or it could be Mahaad! Or it could be Mokuba! And if you think about it, would it really be hilarious if it was the real god Set? I personally think it would be quite frightening if a god of chaos I may have worshiped in a past incarnation decided he wanted me to worship him again and when I didn't respond started killing off and torturing all my friends in the most violent ways he can think of. Just a thought. Not that that's what's happening in this story.

Do any of you have irrational fears? Or just things that really creep you out? I have both. I have an irrational fear of sewing machines and I am severely creeped out by dolls. I haven't had a doll since I was five. This fear of dolls is not helped by scary movies with moving dolls or the video game Fatal Frame. *shiver* Creeping myself out just thinking about it. Not sure why I chose here to ramble about dolls. Maybe it's just some of the imagery I used towards the end of this chapter...that must be it. I think dolls are creepy so I use them in scary stuff.

This chapter, I will admit up front, is several things.

1. Kaiba-centric. Not everything is strictly from his view, but the perspective follows him.  
2. One of the first scenes I thought of for this story is in this chapter, though not as originally invisioned.  
3. By far the hardest chapter to write so far.  
4. Er...how about I just let you read the chapter?

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: You Would Kill For This**

"Yugi's invited me over to his house."

Kaiba turned his head to look at Ryou across the table where they were eating breakfast. "For what?" he asked.

Ryou poked his waffle with a fork. "Just to hang out, play games, watch a movie. That sort of thing."

"Hm."

"...you're okay with that?"

Kaiba laughed at the look of confusion on Ryou's face. "Only if you _want_ to go," he said. "Don't let Yugi bully you into it."

"I thought you hated Yugi."

Kaiba shrugged. "He's not that bad, really. I've gotten to know him a little better, and as long as he doesn't have those annoying friends around, he's decent enough."

Ryou forgot he was supposed to be eating the waffles Kaiba had made. "Might I ask what prompted this change of opinion?"

Kaiba grinned. "You, of all people, should know that it's not impossible for me to change my opinion of someone. It helps, though, that he got a summer job working for me."

Ryou laughed. "So he _did_ get a summer job. Good for him."

"Yeah," Kaiba said. "You have your cellphone with you?"

"Uhuh!" Ryou nodded, reaching across the table to link his fingers with Kaiba's. "What are you going to do today? Do you want to come with me?"

Kaiba tipped his head to the side, giving his new lover a considering look. Ryou mimicked him, biting his bottom lip and looking up at him through thick lashes.

Kaiba laughed. It felt good to laugh. He looked forward to laughing with Ryou every day. "Alright. Because you're so cute, I'll finish up a couple of things with work and I'll meet you over there."

"What time?"

"Noon," Kaiba said.

"How about ten?" Ryou countered.

"Eleven-thirty."

"Ten-thirty."

"Eleven."

"Alright!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After Ryou left, Kaiba made his way slowly up to his room. He found himself still reeling emotionally from the events of the night before. He'd never shown so much weakness before, not even to himself. No one had ever made him so vulnerable.

Then along had come this psychotic white-haired freak. Along had come Ryou. And here he was, repeating thoughts and standing in front of the door to his room without going in, just standing here thinking and repeating thoughts. All because of Ryou Bakura.

Kaiba let himself think of what was going to happen. Mokuba would come home from America, and Ryou would be here. In a couple of weeks, the last year of high school would be starting, and Ryou would be there, as well. They could end up in several classes together, especially if Kaiba had a word with some teachers.

Kaiba wasn't really sure what it was about Ryou, and that frightened him a little. There was very little in his life he wasn't sure about, and less that he cared that he wasn't sure. Everything was logical, everything had a place. Everything had an explanation, a reason. Cause and effect were ultimate, all the pieces interconnected with each other in an intricate system. No one could see the entire system, and that hadn't bothered him before. He didn't need to know the whole system.

Now Ryou had introduced a whole new perspective. Kaiba couldn't control Ryou like he did other people, nor predict every move. He was an emotional factor in a world of logic, an extra gear that didn't fit anywhere, but when it moved it turned Kaiba's whole world.

Was there really a point to this? Kaiba lifted his hand to the doorknob. It had been, what, two months? One night? Three weeks? Somewhere in that time, Kaiba had decided he never wanted to let Ryou go. His own place in the system was next to that quiet, white-haired boy.

He opened the door, only to feel someone grab him from behind and shove a wet cloth over his face. He struggled, trying to escape before he breathed in the chloroform, but strong arms pinned him to the wall.

Before he blacked out, he caught a glimpse of spiky black hair, outlined with red and blonde.

_Yugi?_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The sound of breathing so close it made his head vibrate was what Kaiba awoke to. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog in his mind. Slowly, he became aware of the fact that he _couldn't_ shake his head, or his arms or legs, and he couldn't tell exactly which way was up.

"Kaiba."

The voice sounded close, right next to his ears. This served to confuse his still-sluggish mind further.

"Kaiba, I really hope you're awake by now. I don't want you to miss this."

What was Yugi talking about? Kaiba realized he could open his eyes, and did so to see carpet several inches from his face.

After that, he very quickly took in the details of his situation. Unable to turn his head to look, he could feel ropes around his arms and legs, tying him spread-eagle, while it felt like tape of some kind was wrapped around his head, securing it in place, over his mouth and ears. The tape also served to hold the headphones in place through which he was hearing Yugi speak. From the carpet, and his increasing ability to tell direction, it seemed as though he was tied to the bottom of his own bed.

"Hi, Ryou!"

Kaiba froze.

"Hey, Yugi. What's with the walkie-talkie?"

_What...what's going on?_

"Kaiba's on the other end. Say 'hi'!"

A light laugh. "Hi, Seto!"

Kaiba's mind was staggering from shock and the chloroform. He moaned, unable to form words.

"What are you doing, Yugi?"

"I'm taping down the button, so I'll have both hands free and Kaiba will be able to hear us. Right, Kaiba? You wouldn't want to miss anything, after all."

Kaiba struggled, trying to work the ropes loose.

"...Y-Yugi? What are you..."

Ryou was cut off, a nearly vocal protest carrying to Kaiba's ears. He held still, straining to listen, even as some part of him refused to believe that this was happening. There was no way he could be tied up under his bed, a growing feeling of panic threatening to drown him. Every nightmare from the last week ran through his mind, all his fears and worries. All the worst things he had imagined happening because he wasn't there to protect Ryou.

"No," Ryou gasped. "No, Yugi. I don't want...Ah!" A loud _slap_ echoed in Kaiba's head, followed by a heavy thud. "Don't touch me!" Ryou yelled.

Kaiba heard a low, thrilled chuckle before another, louder thud shook him. Ryou cried out in pain. "This is good," Yugi laughed. "Fight me, scream at me. I want you to be loud, so Kaiba can hear everything."

The muscles in Kaiba's neck were beginning to ache. He hadn't even noticed that he was trying to move his head, fighting against his bonds. _There's no way this can be happening,_ he thought to himself. _This can't be real. I must be having another nightmare._

"No!" Ryou screamed. "Yugi, stop! Ow!"

_This can't be happening. This _can't_ be happening!_

Kaiba couldn't bear to hear the sounds he was hearing, his mind connecting the meanings far too vividly. It felt like something within him was going to snap, with every whimper of pain drawing a dull knife across it.

"Ryou," Yugi said quietly. "Say his name."

A small pause, and then the sound of a blow, ripping a cry from Ryou.

"Say his name!"

Kaiba held his breath, not even daring to think as he heard Ryou's soft voice.

"Seto..."

"That's better."

A loud crack, and Ryou started screaming. Kaiba jolted, his arms and legs shaking as they strained at his bonds once more.

"Oh, dear, Kaiba. Aren't people fragile?"

Another crack, and an involuntary whimper escaped Kaiba. He hardly noticed the tears beginning to drip from his face to the carpet below._ This...can't be happening..._

"Ah. I'm afraid you can't run away, now, Ryou. Poor little broken doll. Tears of yellow, darker than death."

_This can't be happening! This can't be happening! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!_

Ryou screamed again, and this time Kaiba screamed with him.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

At six twenty-three in the evening the maid found Kaiba. At six twenty-five two servants managed to untie him. Kaiba squirmed out from under the bed, his shaking hands tearing at the duct tape on his face.

"Master Kaiba," Roland said sternly. "May I suggest allowing me?"

He suggested very firmly, with the help of two bodyguards holding Kaiba's arms as he ripped off the tape over the CEO's mouth. The maid was sent to fetch scissors.

His mouth freed, Kaiba fixed an anguished gaze on Roland. "The Game Shop," he whispered.

"Pardon me?"

If he hadn't been held up, Kaiba would have collapsed to the floor. His face was white as a sheet, and all his limbs trembled violently. "Ryou. He's at the Kame Game Shop. I have to save him."

"I will send someone immediately." Roland nodded to one of the bodyguards. They both helped Kaiba over to a chair before quickly departing.

Kaiba sat, still shaking, his blazing eyes fixed on the air. Anger rolled from him in waves, helpless, frustrated anger. His hands gripped the armrests, his knuckles turning white.

"Circumstantial evidence," he whispered. "Nothing solid. Not yet."

The maid returned with the scissors, and Roland set about the delicate process of removing the remaining duct tape from Kaiba's head. Much to his surprise, Kaiba did not object when Roland had to start clipping away hair.

Then again, if Ryou was in trouble...

"They lied," Kaiba breathed. "They said he was gone, said he was dead. They lied. I know what I heard and that was _him_..."

Kaiba's cell phone rang, and he pulled it out a bit more forcefully than was necessary.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"We found him, sir."

Kaiba swallowed, his mouth dry. "Is he..."

"He...doesn't look good, sir. He won't let us get near him, and we're afraid he'll hurt himself."

"I'm on my way." Kaiba snapped the phone shut.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The door to the Kame Game Shop stood open, dark and empty, the cold evening sunlight not daring to stray too far inside. Kaiba paid little attention. It took far too much effort to stand, let alone walk. He'd been tied up too long, ropes pressed into his arms and legs cutting off circulation.

It took all of his concentration to put one foot in front of the other. He couldn't think about what he would find, or the patches of shorter hair now decorating his head, or how sore his mouth was from having the tape ripped off.

The shop was too dark, and too dusty. Kaiba wrinkled his nose at the smell in the kitchen he passed through on his way to the stairs.

The KaibaCorp guard at the top of the stairs nodded to him and pointed him down the hall, towards what Kaiba guessed was Yugi's room.

The door stood open, and the light was on. Kaiba hesitated in the doorway, his eyes scanning the room. It was obviously Yugi's, full of every sort of game imaginable, but mostly Duel Monsters. The room could have been one that Kaiba would be comfortable in himself, if it weren't for the new bloodstains in the carpet.

He spotted the walkie-talkie on the top of the desk, more duct tape wrapped around it. It wasn't until then that he saw Ryou huddled under the desk, his long arms and legs folded around himself awkwardly. He'd managed to drag the comforter from Yugi's bed and wrap it around himself, soaking the fabric in blood.

His face...his face had been left untouched, under the blood matting strand of his hair. It was also left untouched by emotion. A slow blink did nothing to restore it to life. The porcelain skin may have belonged to a doll, for all the expression it had.

It felt as though someone had reached into Kaiba's chest and grabbed his heart, then had adjusted their grip to include his lungs, too, making it a struggle to breathe.

"Ryou?" he managed to croak.

There was no reaction. Kaiba couldn't even see the motion of breathing. The only way he could tell Ryou was still alive was that slow, concentrated blink.

"Ryou," he breathed, his voice crackling as a tear broke through and streaked down his face. "Ryou, can you hear me?"

Still no response.

"Oh, God," Kaiba whispered, sinking to his knees. "Ryou..." He couldn't say it. He couldn't say he was sorry. It was far too inadequate. "How could I let this happen?"

He crawled forward on his hands and knees, a hand slowly reaching to touch Ryou's face.

That got a reaction. Ryou jerked his head away from Kaiba's touch, knocking his head against the desk, his face twisted in anguish. He whimpered, his breathing speeding up.

Kaiba sobbed, his will broken. His arms and legs ached so much he wondered if he could even stand, but he inched closer. He wanted to hold that shivering body close to him, to cradle him and whisper that everything would be alright, but he knew that Ryou wouldn't let him touch him.

Kaiba stared at the pale face in front of him through his blurring vision, occasionally lifting his arm to wipe away the tears.

"Ryou," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry! Ryou..."

He cried. He cried for Ryou and himself. He knew that once the tears stopped, there would be nothing left.

Nothing left but anger.

* * *


	20. We Belong To That Crawling Thunder

Hmmmm.....I'm glad you guys like chapter 19:)

I've hit a huge case of writer's block *is sad* So, I am posting chapter 20 even though I only have three sentences of chapter 22 done. I figure some happy reviews might kick the creative juices into gear.

**CrimsonZero - **New Reviewer! *glomps* Yay! I'm glad to hear how much you like this story. Honestly, I really like it, too. Huzzah! And there's no need to fear! I'm pretty sure I know how the story ends! Well...except for Marik. I _still_ don't know what's going to happen to him. Or Otogi, actually, but I don't really care as much about him. I'm so nice.

**x-xhannah-banana-x - ***huggles back* *hands over a tissue* Yeah, chapter 19 was hard to write, just from sheer emotional overwhlemingness. I sound so smart when I make up words. It occurs to me now that this story isn't _quite_ so much Horror/Mystery as it is Horror/Tragedy. Maybe I should change the category...but then people would have too much of a warning XD

**pride1289 - **Congratulations, dear. That's the shortest review you've ever left me, lol.

**Hikari Kame - **Gah! Keep reading! The end is getting closer, I promise! You shall have your answers soon enough! Maybe.

It would be totally awesome if anyone could figure out what is going on in this story before the end. If any of you think you have things figures out, don't be afraid to let me know! Remember, I have Neonn betaing for me, and she knows everything that's going to happen, so I can't tell how well I'm doing with foreshadowing and clues and hints or _anything_. SERIOUSLY!!! Maybe I should get a second beta who doesn't know anything for future works, just so I can have some sort of measure of how well things are being portrayed. ...hmm... Oh, and if anyone wants to see my attempts at writing fluffy romance, go read my new story Sanctuary. Yeah. It's...a little different than most romance fanfics you'll find out there. And its from Bakura's POV.

With no further ado, Chapter Twenty, in which many interesting things happen.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: We Belong To That Crawling Thunder**

Jou wearily dialed another number, trying again to find someone he and Yugi could stay with. The shorter boy still refused to go back to the game shop, and Jou knew his house would be far worse than any other option. Honda's sister and nephew had left the country the night before, fleeing...whatever this thing was attacking them, tearing them apart.

He sighed as the phone continued to ring, shifting his weight on the bench he and Yugi sat on. He glanced over at Yugi, who was staring blankly into space, the puzzle sitting in his lap, its eye looking at Jou.

"What's up, mutt?"

Jou nearly jumped out of his seat. "Otogi!" he said angrily. "Don't scare me like that!"

Laughter echoed down the line. "Mutt, you were the one calling me, remember? So, what's shakin'?"

Jounochi gulped. "Well...a lot of things, really. I...need to ask you a favor."

Otogi sighed. "Fine. Since you asked me so nicely, I _suppose_ I can teach you how to play Dungeon Dice Monsters. Who knows? Maybe you'll finally break free of that stupid card game."

As Jou's face flushed red, he thought he heard someone in the background talking to Otogi. "Hey, dice freak," he said. "Who's there with you?"

Otogi laughed again. "Oh, you'll never guess who I picked up at the airport."

Jou could feel his patience wearing thin. He needed to get Yugi somewhere safe. Well...safer than the middle of the street. The attacks on Honda and Anzu had pretty much convinced him that whatever was after the puzzle could get at them anywhere. "Otogi, I don't have time for this crap. Yugi and I need some help here..."

The voice in the background spoke again,and this time Jou hesitated, recognition dawning on him. "Is that Marik?"

Yugi's head snapped up to stare at Jou as Otogi laughed once again. There was what sounded like a brief argument over the phone before Marik seized control.

"Jounochi," he said. "Hand the phone to Yugi. I need to talk to him."

"Um...all right." Something in Marik's voice brooked no disagreement. He held out the phone to Yugi.

The dark-haired hikari reached out a shaking hand and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" he said dully.

He listened for a moment, Jounochi unable to hear what Marik was saying. "Okay," said Yugi. "Jou and I are a block south of Burger World, by the gas station." He hung up and passed the phone back to Jounochi.

Jou hesitated before asking. "What did he have to say?"

Yugi looked down at his hands curled weakly in his lap. "He said he had to meet me in person, to tell me something important. He said he had to warn me." Yugi lifted his head to meet Jou's eyes. "I...I couldn't tell him that he was already too late."

Shivering in the cool air, Jounochi stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of the bench. "So you think Marik knows something about what's going on? Maybe he can help us."

Before Yugi could respond, Jou's phone rang again. Startled, he answered it. "Hello?"

"Give the phone to Yugi."

Jou recognized the voice immediately. "Hey! How did you get this phone number, huh? Who said you could call, moneybags?"

"Give the phone to Yugi."

"I'm not going to take any of your insults today...what?" Jou trailed off. Kaiba hadn't even bothered responding at all, and his voice sounded...flat.

"Give the phone to Yugi."

Shocked, Jou could only hand over the phone, shrugging in response to Yugi's questioning face.

"Hello?" said Yugi.

To Jou's surprise, Kaiba spoke loud enough for him to hear. "Yugi, tomorrow at noon we will duel one last time in the new arena I'm building in Kaibaland. We will end this."

Yugi's expression grew hard. "Yes," he said. "This will be the end."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Yugi handed the phone back to Jou without hanging up. As Jou put the phone away, he racked his brain to think of the last time he saw an emotion like this on Yugi's face. The closest he could come up with wasn't actually Yugi, but Yami when he had set his eyes on a target.

"I told you what was written on the wall, didn't I?"

Jou jumped, startled out of his thoughts. "Yeah," he said. "You did."

"The priest," Yugi whispered. "Set, the God of Chaos. It all fits together."

"You don't think..._Kaiba_ has something to do with this, do you?"

"And what if he does? I keep thinking everything's pointing back to him. What if he's being controlled by something? Worse, what if nothing's controlling him?"

"But Yug," Jou interjected. "Why would Kaiba want the puzzle?"

Yugi stared at Jou for a moment in surprise. "The puzzle?"

A big, red truck pulled next to the curb in front of them, a grinning Otogi leaning out the window from the driver's seat.

"Hey, guys!" he smirked. "Hop on in! We're meeting the others back at my place."

Jou and Yugi scrambled into the cab. "Wait a second," Yugi said. "Others?"

Otogi laughed. "Yeah. You'll _really_ never guess who I found _with_ Marik."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

And so it was that seven minutes later Yugi found himself face to face with two Egyptians, one of whom he had never thought he would see again.

"Hello, Pharaoh," Bakura sneered.

Marik sighed, an apologetic look on his face. "Bakura," he said in the tone of voice that suggested he was speaking to a two-year-old. "We've been over this. This is _Yugi_. The Pharaoh's gone, remember?"

Bakura turned his head to stare at the blonde seated next to him. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do I look like an idiot, Marik?"

"Not right now, you don't," Marik said calmly, leaning back in his chair. "Five minutes ago is another story."

Otogi brought over sodas from the fridge and sat down at the table with the other teenagers. Four of them sat in momentary uncomfortable silence, while Bakura stared in wide-eyed wonder at his fingers six inches from his face.

Marik cleared his throat. "Um," he said. "First off, Yugi, you should call your other friends and get them over here. There's safety in numbers, I think, maybe, and so...yeah."

Yugi opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked helplessly at Jou, who was doing his best to avoid Yugi's eyes.

Marik drew a breath. "I...am I...too late?"

Yugi supposed the look on his face was all the confirmation Marik needed. The Egyptian slumped down in his chair, a hopelessly lost look on his face.

"What happened?" Otogi asked quietly.

Jou cleared his throat. "Yesterday Anzu was attacked. She's in the hospital, and the doctors think she's gonna die. Honda...Honda's dead. It got him last night."

Yugi felt like he was going to be sick again, thinking of the scene when he'd found Honda. He'd thought nothing could be worse than finding Grandpa. "Marik?" he asked in a small voice. "What do you know?"

Marik was slowly shaking his head. "I was just trying to protect her. I didn't want her to get hurt...I was kidnapped by some crazy cultists. They wanted me to summon this thing so they could worship it. They said I could do it, something about being blessed by this Priest of the Ether by having my yami destroyed, or something. They kidnapped Ishizu and Rishid and I summoned it..."

Yugi's stomach was doing somersaults, his heart pounding in his throat. "What did you summon, Marik?"

Marik's expression grew fearful. "The Faceless God, the Outsider, Peace at the Gate, the Destroyer of Egypt, God of the Desert."

"The Thing in the Yellow Mask," Bakura supplied. "The Haunter of the Dark, The Crawling Chaos. He has too many names. One for each form. Golden ships with violet sails. Just a pawn on the board. Don't go the moon. They'll feed you to the Beast."

Yugi gave Bakura a puzzled look before turning back to Marik. "Do you know if this thing is connected to Set, the Chaos God the ancient Egyptians worshiped? It...left a message. The strength of the Pharaoh is that of He Who Howls Between Stars. Hail to the High Priest of the Ether, Lord of the Desert, Chaos Incarnate, Set."

Marik shrugged. "I dunno. Do you know, Bakura?"

Bakura turned towards Marik. "Have you seen my host? I've been looking everywhere for him." Marik looked at Yugi.

Yugi shifted in his seat as Jounochi opened a can of soda. "We haven't heard from him all summer."

Out of the corner of his eye Yugi saw Marik slightly shake his head. Bakura's expression darkened.

"I want my host," Bakura growled. "Stupid Pharaoh, with his stupid monsters." The thief jumped to his feet. "I can't fight them anymore!" he cried out. "My dreams are gone! I can't summon Diabound, and I just _know_ that Reesh will forget to feed the cats!"

He ran from the room, leaving Yugi, Jou, Otogi, and Marik in stunned silence.

"...So..." Jou said slowly. "He's been like that..."

"Ever since he came back," Marik said, sinking lower in his chair. "Sometimes he's better, sometimes he's worse. I feel lucky when I understand half of what he's saying."

"How did he come back?" Yugi asked. "He looks just like he did in Yami's memories."

_The man strode confidently into the throne room, as if he were the Pharaoh and the court were the intruders. His wild, white hair matched his wild, white smile. The clatter of falling gold striking the ground accompanied his low, earthy chuckle as the only two sounds in the suddenly silent room._

Marik shook his head in a helpless gesture. "From what I could tell, I screwed up the summoning spell and accidentally got him as well as the monster thingy. Not sure how I managed it."

"It seems to me," Otogi interrupted. "That what this thing is or how it got here isn't really the problem. We need to figure out a way to beat it."

Jou gave Otogi an unreadable look. "We?"

Otogi leaned back. "Well, yeah. I've been dragged in. I might as well help." He tossed his empty soda can in a perfect arc over into the garbage can. "What do we know about how to fight it?"

"You can't."

They all turned to see Bakura standing in the kitchen doorway. "There's no way to fight it. I've tried for three thousand years. Fighting it just amuses it for a time. I thought perhaps I could summon another god to fight it, but then it used the Pharaoh to destroy Zorc. It didn't even bother using it's own power to do so. I guess all gods are not created equal." He shrugged apathetically.

_The white-haired thief threw his head back in a dry, hacking laugh. "I'm the great Thief King!" he declared. "Not some weak and petty thief! My power is great enough to challenge any of the pathetic little Ka you've been stealing for yourselves!"_

"Impossible!" Akunadin cried out. "How can such a demon dwell with in thief's soul?"

Bakura smirked. "This is no mere demon...This is a God!"

Everyone stared at Bakura for a time. "Bakura..." Marik said slowly. "The Pharaoh was it's pawn?"

Bakura's expression grew concerned. "Marik..." he said equally slowly. Yugi got the impression that Bakura was speaking to a three-year-old. "Something tells me that we are not communicating a few important things very clearly at all. Down the seven hundred steps of madness we go. I miss being a pirate."

_"I cannot believe this!" Siamun exclaimed. "A God, a holy Ka, cannot dwell within an evil heart!"_

Atem thought that the thief's smile grew introspective for a moment. "Evil? What is evil? If I'm loyal to what you_ say is right, is that all it takes to make me 'good'?"_

Marik stared at Bakura for a moment before sighing and running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do," he whispered, almost to himself.

Yugi noticed that everyone seemed to be looking at him, as if expecting him to come up with something. As if he knew what to do.

_They want Yami. He always knew what to do. Even if he didn't, things always turned out alright in the end._

And those strange thoughts, remembering things from Yami's past...they had gotten even worse after seeing the ancient thief again. Yugi forced himself to shove the memories and dreams aside, to think of the danger here and now.

"Kaiba challenged me to a Duel, tomorrow at noon," Yugi said slowly. "I think...maybe we should all go together. If Kaiba's involved in this, we need to be careful. And even if he's not, we need to stick together."

_You're right, Abiou. There's safety in numbers...but is there safety in such company?_

Yugi looked around. Everyone here had been his enemy at some point in his life.

_Love, compassion, empathy, friendship...fear, distrust, scorn. Abiou...  
_  
Even Jou had started to slip. What was he saying earlier about the puzzle?

_Abiou, you're going to have to choose._

Jou grinned at Yugi. "It sounds like a good plan. We can get to the bottom of this mess!"

_Ignorance..._

Bakura scowled. Marik looked resigned, and Otogi was almost as eager as Jou.

_Or insanity?_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Anzu opened her eyes to darkness.

* * *

Marik: Hm...do things get better?

Yami: What do you mean 'better'?

Marik: Well...do Bakura and I ever get to make out like Kaiba and Ryou did?

Yugi: o.O

Bakura: Wait...what did he just say? Why am I a pirate?

Shem: I'm glad ou guys are back, at least. It's hard to write when the characters aren't in your head telling you what to write. Now I just need Jou for chapter 22...

Jou: Hey guys! *eats pizza* what did I miss?

Everyone: Yay!

Otogi: Review!


	21. I'll Never See This Face Again

Here we are, at chapter 21. We're getting pretty close to the end, you know. Twenty-four, maybe twenty-five chapters and an epilogue. Hurray for the return of creativity! I was able to finish chapter 22, and I'm started on 23, so don't worry. It looks like we might get this thing wrapped up before school starts:).

**pride1289 - **Nah. I'm not disappointed. I was just surprised that you said so little about a chapter that, well, there was a lot to say about it. I love crazy Bakura, too. It's really fun coming up with the things he spouts off. They all make perfect sense in his head. It's just that no one else knows what he's talking about, so they can't follow. I know exactly how he feels.

**KageNoNeko - **Oh, you are going to _love_ chapter 22...

**x-hannah-banana-x - **Yeah. The characters are starting to put together a few things. The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place *smirk*. No brutal murders in 20. Hope you enjoyed the break from horrible, violent deaths.

**CrimsonZero - **Yay! Suspense! Questions? More questions! Teehee! I love it when I get all jittery over exciting stories, and I'm glad I could give you the feeling.

Just so everyone knows, this chapter was _really_ fun to write.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: I'll Never See This Face Again  
**  
That morning was bright, clear, and cold. Marik shivered as he stood next to Bakura. _Stupid Japanese weather,_ he thought. _Isn't it supposed to be warm during the summer?_

He distracted himself by watching Bakura. It was fascinating, the way the ancient thief radiated secure confidence, despite the way his eyes examined everything, everyone, searching for threats and escape routes. Marik wondered if such behavior had become second nature, or if there was ever a time Bakura let his guard down.

"Too many," Bakura muttered. "A pawn on the board. Too many."

Glancing around the amusement park, Marik couldn't see what Bakura was talking about. Maybe he was simply referring to the number of people. The thief might just be edgy in crowds.

In that case, Bakura had it easy. From what Marik overheard from Otogi and Jounochi, the crowd was shockingly sparse for a summer day at one of Kaiba's amusement parks.

"There it is," Jou called out, pointing ahead to a large, domed building. The air conditioning hit Marik like a wall, and he cursed under his breath at whatever idiot had felt the need to blast the cold air on a day already chilly. He tried to rub at the goosebumps on his arms inconspicuously, lest he be mocked for his usual sleeveless choice of clothing. Bakura, on the other hand, had shown unusual foresight and had his hands stuffed in the pockets of an overlarge red hoodie. Where he had gotten the hoodie from, Marik had no idea. He never did with Bakura.

The arena sat at the bottom of a large amphitheater, the seats all upholstered in what Marik had come to regard as Kaiba's signature blue. Otogi, Jou, Marik, and Bakura all found themselves some seats around the empty arena. Jou gave Yugi a last little pep talk, though Marik didn't think Yugi was hearing very much of it. "Little" Yugi wasn't really all that little any more, Marik thought, watching as he walked purposefully down to the arena.

The door across the arena opened, and Marik knew that he wasn't the only person who gasped.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Yugi couldn't help but stare across the arena. This person...this wasn't Kaiba. Kaiba was ruthless, strong, prideful. The boy that stared evenly at Yugi was not the Kaiba that Yugi knew. His hair had been chopped short, close to his scalp. The usual sneer or smirk Yugi had almost never seen Kaiba without had been replaced by a frightening lack of anything resembling emotion. Kaiba's face was blank, holding no scorn, no pride. He seemed shorter, too, though Yugi realized it was a combination of his own growth and Kaiba's relaxed, almost slouching, stance. The whole effect was unnerving.

Yugi took a deep breath. "I guess..."

"There's nothing left to say," Kaiba interrupted him sharply. "It's time to Duel."

_It's time to Duel. You must be strong, Abiou...for yourself, for Anzu...for me._

Yugi nodded.

Kaiba drew a card.

"I play Vorse Raider." The hologram appeared on the field, the warrior's sword gleaming wickedly. "I play the spell card Spell Absorption and lay another card face-down. End turn."

Yugi couldn't understand what was wrong with Kaiba. The other boy declared his moves with no boasting, even though he had already played a monster with 1900 attack and a card that would give him life points with every spell card Yugi used. He grimaced. Already Kaiba was limiting his options, making him consider the worth of each spell card before playing it.

For example, how effective would it be to play Swords of Revealing Light on this turn?

"I play one card face-down." Getting Crumbling Axe on the field this early would come in handy, especially against Kaiba's Blue-Eyes. "And then I summon Silent Magician, level zero." The small, innocent-looking girl faced her frightening opponent across the field. Yugi couldn't leave her open to attack, though, and decided it was worth letting Kaiba have a few more points.

"Now, I activate Swords of Revealing Light and end my turn."

_Well done, Abiou. You are very brave. You can do this._

Kaiba showed no reaction as he drew another card. Out of the corner of Yugi's eye, he could see Jou fidgeting. No doubt Kaiba's uncharacteristic silence was bothering him, as well.

"I summon Kaiser Sea Horse," Kaiba said flatly, not looking at his cards as he laid them out. "And end my turn."

Yugi frowned. It didn't even really seem like he was battling Kaiba. He drew a card.

"I play a monster in face-down position," Yugi declared. The Silent Magician wasn't strong enough yet to beat either of Kaiba's monsters, though her power had gone up during Kaiba's turn. "End turn."

"I summon Possessed Dark Soul in Attack Mode," Kaiba said. "Now I tribute Kaiser Sea Horse to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Yugi couldn't help but shiver. Even summoning his favorite monster, Kaiba's eyes looked, well, dead. The giant white dragon gleamed above the field, radiant and frightening, yet lurking underneath was the other monster Kaiba had summoned, a small, shadowy shape that Yugi couldn't quite make out.

"I end my turn."

Yugi did his best to keep his face still when he saw the next card he drew.

_Well done, Abiou! Now, if next turn you could draw _that_ card..._

"I play a card face-down," Yugi called out, playing the card he had just drawn. "And now Silent Magician attacks Possessed Dark Soul!"

The shadow on the field disappeared in the fire of the Silent Magician's attack as Kaiba's Life Points dropped down to 4200. Kaiba still didn't move.

"End turn."

It was the last turn before Swords of Revealing Light would wear off, and Kaiba would be free to attack. Until then, Yugi knew he was as safe as he could ever get while Dueling Kaiba.

Once again, Kaiba drew a card. "Different Dimensional Warrior, defense mode," he said so quietly Yugi barely heard him. The small fighter shimmered into existence on the field. "I place a card face-down and end my turn."

Yugi knew he had to make this turn count. Silent Magician was up to 2500 attack, thanks to the turns that had passed, and if he drew _that_ card next...

He did! A grin lit his face.

"I play Card of Sanctity!" he cried out, flipping over the face-down card. Kaiba's Lifepoints rose to 5200, but as he drew more cards the Silent Magician grew even stronger, her attack increasing to 5000. And _still_ no reaction from his opponent. Well, maybe _this_ would get him.

"And now," said Yugi, his voice strong. "I play Card Destruction."

_That_ got a reaction from Kaiba. Yugi saw the faintest twitch of Kaiba's eyebrow as he was forced to discard his whole hand and draw six new cards. His Lifepoints increased from the Spell card, but now Silent Magician's attack was sitting at a very comfortable 8000.

Yugi examined his new handful of cards. "I play Green Gadget in defense mode." He smiled across the field at Kaiba. "Silent Magician, destroy his Blue-Eyes!"

The great dragon burst into silent, magical flames, and across the arena Kaiba's Lifepoints dropped to only 1200.

"Your move, Kaiba."

Yugi braced himself for many things. He mentally prepared himself for Kaiba to whip out a miracle comeback, for Kaiba to finally show some emotion, for nothing to change and for things to continue as they were, for Jou's cheer of encouragement from the sidelines.

However, there were several things he didn't brace himself for, and one of them was for Kaiba to, very calmly, reach into his trechcoat pocket and pull out a small metal object he didn't immediately recognize out of pure shock and point it at Yugi.

"Bring him out," Kaiba said evenly over the barrel of the gun he now held pointed at Yugi.

Yugi could feel his own breath blocking his throat as he forgot to breathe in shock and fear. _M-mou Hitori no Boku..._

"I know you lied to me, Yugi." A faint _click_ echoed in the silent arena. "He's not dead. Bring him out."

_Yami? What do I do? He's going to shoot me, Yami! WHAT DO I DO?_

_Everything will be alright, Abiou._

I promised we'd be together, didn't I?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Marik gripped the armrests, his eyes fixated on the holograms on the field as the two Champions Dueled. As Yugi blasted away Kaiba's Blue-Eyes, he couldn't help but wonder at how strong Yugi really was, even without the Pharaoh...

"Where _is_ he?" Bakura growled.

Marik looked over at him, the thief's eyes darting around the arena, even occasionally glaring up at the battling Blue-Eyes decorating the ceiling.

"Who, Bakura?"

Slate-grey eyes burned through him. "He's got to be here somewhere," Bakura snapped. "The Pharaoh is his pawn. He's _definitely _here somewhere, watching, perhaps controlling the game..." His eyes flickered to Yugi, then turned to focus on Kaiba. "One of them...both of them? Neither...."

A brief gleam of metal pulled Marik's attention back to Kaiba, and specifically to the gun he was now holding, pointed directly at Yugi.

"Bring him out."

"Yugi!" Jou cried out, standing and nearly tripping over his seat before Otogi grabed a hold of him.

"Hold still!" Otogi hissed at Jou. "Look at Kaiba! He's...well, I don't even know. Do you really think yelling right now will help, mutt?"

Jou whimpered, sounding rather shockingly just like a dog as he stared down at the arena.

Marik felt the blood draining from his hands, holding tightly to the seat in front of him. He watched Yugi intently, watching to see what he was going to do. Kaiba wanted him to bring out the Pharaoh, apparently. Did Kaiba miss the memo that the Pharaoh was gone?

Yugi's face was white as a sheet, and he was shaking so badly it looked like he was about to pass out. _Come on, Yugi,_ Marik urged in his mind. _Tell Kaiba. Tell Kaiba the Pharaoh is gone._

"But that won't accomplish anything, main personality-sama."

Marik froze. Warm fingers trailed down the back of his neck and hot breath danced across his ear.

"Our dear little Dragon-Child is convinced that Yugi Mutou is, kehehe, the _vessel of the Pharaoh._ Watch, and see how exquisitely a mind can be destroyed."

Yugi smiled, his shoulders straightened, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Kaiba. "You want to Duel me, Kaiba? Very well, then! Duel me!"

_"Kehehe..."_

The warmth disappeared, leaving Marik gasping and shivering. No one seemed to notice, since just then the door across the arena, the one Kaiba had entered through, opened.

"What's going on?" The angelic, white-haired figure stepped out towards the arena, his head turning towards Yugi and then Kaiba. "You two are Dueling again? Yugi? Kaiba?"

Marik felt Bakura start, nearly leaping out of his seat, a strangled noise escaping him. "Host!" he whispered, darting away before Marik even thought to grab him.

The loud _crack_ sounded nothing like gunfire did on movies. It seemed to Marik that the sound slowed time, making it run like cold syrup. It took him an eternity to look back at Kaiba, and then a second eternity to follow the line of his arms, down the angle the gun was pointed at. A third eternity was spent in relief, believing that Kaiba had missed. The fourth eternity was how long it took for Ryou's eyes to widen in surprise, and then for him to look down at the slowly spreading red stain on his light blue shirt.

Then time sped up. Marik heard an animalistic scream, and realized it came from Bakura, who was already halfway across the arena, running right through the shimmering form of the Different Dimensional Warrior before dashing to catch Ryou in his shaking arms.

"Kaiba! Don't!"

That was Yugi, yelling at Kaiba, who had turned his gun towards his own head, his face still empty and emotionless. Marik scrambled over seats, right on the heels of Jou and Otogi as they ran down to the arena. What, exactly, they hoped to accomplish, Marik wasn't sure.

Marik found himself running towards Bakura, hunched over his host. It looked like his hands were moving slowly, carefully over Ryou's arms. Ryou's fingers grasped at Bakura's hoodie, twisting into the fabric as his eyes stared at Kaiba in disbelief.

"Marik!" Bakura yelled. "Give me your hand!"

Too shocked to do anything else, Marik knelt next to the thief, his shaking hand grasped in Bakura's firm, calloused one. Everyone was yelling, shouting. Marik tried to ignore the chaos around him, push it away. He trusted Bakura, even if the thief was as crazy as a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide.

Bakura's grey eyes closed in concentration, and strange syllables spilled out of his mouth. It sounded a little like Arabic, a little like German, and a little like no language any human mouth should be able to speak. Marik tried to close his mind, to shut out the sound, but he could feel the words in his head, just like the words of the books in the cave.

A small, whimpering sound escaped Ryou. "Y-yami," he whispered, his large eyes staring up at Bakura. "What are you doing?"

Bakura shook his head, his white hair brushing against his face as he began speaking louder.

Ryou's face was shockingly pale, his lips darkening with the blood beginning to spill from his mouth. "Yami, stop." His eyes grew dark...dangerous...

Bakura spoke a final word, and Ryou disappeared.

Marik blinked. He was just gone...there wasn't even a bloodstain on the floor, or on Bakura's hands, or his own. Slowly, Bakura tipped over, collapsing on the hard floor, his chest rising and falling in quiet gasps for air. The air was too heavy, weighing down on Marik, making it a struggle to breath.

The inability to move, however, seemed to force his mind to put together what just happened. Marik had heard his yami's whispering voice, which had then disappeared just before Ryou had come into the room. Kaiba...had shot Ryou, and then Bakura had done something...and Ryou was gone.

"Th-that was..."

"The Faceless Chaos," Bakura cut him off. "Help me up, Marik."

His arms shaking, Marik did his best to help the trembling thief to his feet. For a few moments, Bakura looked surprisingly old, his face tired and worn, his white hair only adding to the effect. With a low groan, Bakura sank down to his knees, shaking from exhaustion.

"Marik," Bakura panted. "Know any spells to make him stop waving that gun around?"

Marik looked up at Kaiba, his gun still aimed at his own head. The books in the cave had other spells besides the one to summon the Faceless Chaos, and he found himself chanting the first one that came to mind.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_I shot Ryou. It wasn't him it _couldn't_ have been him but I shot him. I can't believe I shot him. _

A cool, calm breath filled Kaiba's lungs. The anger was gone, now, ever since he had pulled the trigger. Now, there was relief, and the unshakable knowledge that the next bullet had to be for him...

And yet he couldn't make himself do it. He couldn't help thinking of Ryou, and what Ryou would think of Kaiba if he left things in the hands of incompotents like Yugi, the mutt, the dice-freak, and Marik the Raving Psychopath.

Calmly, Kaiba lowered the gun, put the safety back on, and let himself close his eyes and fade to oblivion.

* * *

A note for those of you who know what is going on: Yes. I _know_ that Bakura shouldn't know the spell to banish the Crawling Chaos. It's my own personal little Deus Ex Machina I put in to keep everyone from dying horribly in this chapter and that being the end. Honestly. If Bakura hadn't banished the thing then he, Kaiba, Yugi, and probably Marik would all be dead. Jou and Otogi would not be far behind. Cheerful, isn't it? I wanted to keep everyone alive so I could torture them a few more chapters.

I don't know if anyone has noticed all the fun research I've been putting into this fic. Maybe you guys won't notice until the end. Ah, well. Until then, you can all stand in awe at my awesome research for cards to pad out Yugi's deck. I wanted him to use the deck from the Ritual Duel, but he only ever uses it twice, once against Bakura and once against Yami, and we really don't see that much of it. So, I went looking for the kinds of cards that would boost the cards he already had. There are actually quite a few I found that I didn't use. I especially liked that Card of Sanctity/Card Destruction combo. Very nice. Oh, and apparently Card of Sanctity does something different in the game than in the manga. Guess which use I used? The one that I liked best, of course.

Until next time!


	22. And She Ran To Him

Another update! Hurray for creative juices flowing!

**pride1289 - **I'm glad to see that you are using your brain-candies for thinking. For someone who claims to be clueless and lazy, you seem to be actually trying to figure out what's going on. I'm cheering you on! Don't worry too much about Bakura. His moments of sanity are very fleeting.

**KageNoNeko - **Well, yeah. I actually really like the deck Yugi puts together for himself at the end of Millennium World, even though we hardly see any of it. He beats Bakura's "Undead Locked Deck" and beats TWO God cards in the duel with Yami. Yugi basically is made of win.

**Hikari Kame - **Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm not entirely sure I got the Duel completely right, since I'm still learning the game myself, and it's actually quite tricky keeping track of what _both_ players have in their decks, hands, and on the field. Good times. Don't worry too much about the real Ryou. He'll show up again, of course. As for Atem...it's very interesting, actually, how many people are concerned about him showing up in the story. There's plenty of clues...

**ScarlettKuasta - **Hurray! New reviewer! Have some cake! Yay! This story is really exciting, isn't it!? Things are getting down to the wire, and our protagonists are going to have to move and think quickly if they are going to get through this. I'm glad the story freaks you out. I can't quite tell if the story is scary at all to people who don't know what is really happening...intense, yes, but scary? You'll have to let me know.

Yeah. As far as I know the only person who _really_ thinks this story is scary is Neonn. Not only does she know what is going on and what is going to happen, she is terrified of butterflies (all bugs are out to get her in revenge for their comrades she has killed), afraid of zombies in swimming pools (a long story), and thinks Nyarlathotep follows her in stairwells (she refuses to take elevators, since there's nowhere to run. And because of the scorpions). I love you, Neonn. I'm glad you're willing to admit to your paranoia.

I present chapter twenty-two, in which some things are clarified and other things are made more confusing.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two: And She Ran To Him**

Jou shuddered, the sudden quiet in the arena heavy as lead and just as easy to breathe. The echoing _clatter_ of Kaiba's fallen gun died quickly, as if the air were muffled by cotton. He wasn't really sure what just happened, and the glaring eye of the puzzle was making it difficult to think.

Bakura had collapsed where Ryou had been just a moment before, and Marik crouched protectively over him, his eyes locked on Kaiba while his lips moved silently. Kaiba looked like he was about to pass out, his shoulders stooped and his head bowed, a deep weariness dragging him down.

Jou tightened his hold on Yugi's wrist, trying to ignore the sharp golden edges at the border of his vision. Otogi had Yugi's other arm, supporting the spiky-haired Duelist. Yugi was shaking so hard he wouldn't be able to stand on his own. His wide violet eyes stared as Kaiba silently stepped back from the arena. The holograms vanished, the game ended by the departure of one of the Duelists. Technically, a win for Yugi.

Tiny beads of sweat stood out on Jou's forehead as his mind struggled to catch up with what was happening. He cleared his throat. "Did the air conditioning break or something?"

He could have slapped himself for making such a ridiculous comment, but it seemed to have some effect. For the first time, anger flashed across Kaiba's face.

"This is a brand-new building, mutt," Kaiba snarled, his glare hotter than that of the puzzle. "Why would the air-conditioning be broken?" His gaze whipped around the room. "Someone had better damn well explain what's going on. What was...what was that thing I shot?"

Kaiba was shaking so badly Jou could see it from clear across the arena. Jou felt Yugi pull away from him slightly, and he let go of his friend's wrist.

"Kaiba," Yugi said slowly. "How did you know that wasn't Bakura-kun? What if it was? What if you killed him?"

Marik shook his head. "No, Yugi. That definitely wasn't human, at least."

Kaiba shook his head slowly, almost nervously, as if he were trying to avoid looking at the puzzle. "Of course I could tell that wasn't Ryou."

"What do you mean, 'of course'?" Otogi called across the arena. Everyone looked at Kaiba, and for a moment Jou thought he looked...nervous.

"Tell us, Kaiba," Marik said quietly, his expression focused.

"Because Ryou's too hurt," Kaiba snarled at the Egyptian.

"Why is he hurt?" Marik demanded.

"He was attacked," Kaiba said quietly. "Both his legs are broken, three ribs, and his collarbone. There's about five square inches of skin below his neck that aren't bruised or cut. He's been asleep all day, thanks to the shock and the pain medication." He turned slightly towards Marik. "Get the hell out of my head, Ishtar."

Jou ignored the harsh lines of the puzzle and stepped past Yugi, towards Kaiba. "Wait a sec," he said. "How do you know Bakura was attacked? How do we know we can trust you?"

Marik rolled his eyes. "Relax, Jou. If Kaiba was our Faceless friend I'm pretty sure I couldn't get into his mind."

"But you don't have the rod anymore!" Jou protested. "And you can stop looking at me like that," he spat at the puzzle hanging around Yugi's neck.

Marik scoffed. "I learned more than one spell from those cultists."

In the silence that followed, a shrill, cacophonous bleeping came from Jou's pocket. Still feeling frightened and angry, he nearly ripped the phone from his pocket before opening it.

"Hello?" he said as calmly as he could.

"Is this Katsuya Jounochi?"

Jou could feel his heart pounding in his throat. "Yeah. That's me."

"I'm calling about your friend, Anzu Mizaki..."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Everything hurt, a rough, burning ache that faded and grew, but never really went away. The world around Anzu felt sharper, more defined. It was almost like she could feel each thread of the sheets below her fingertips, each drip of the IV echoed in her head, and every slight shift in the air brought the scent of antiseptic, or bleach, or, she crinkled her nose in disgust, the scent of her own burned skin. The medicine she knew she must be on dulled the pain, or she knew she wouldn't be able the stand the burning of each wound. Still, everything _hurt_.

The hissing and beeping of the machines keeping her alive were soft, methodic, and soothing. Anzu let her mind drift, not really focusing on anything. Of course, as always, her mind drifted to to what it always did.  
_  
Yugi..._

Anzu had never been more afraid in her life, when that person who looked like Yugi attacked her. He'd stood so _close_ to her, his eyes full of light that darkened the rest of him. She had almost felt glad that she couldn't see him anymore after he poured the acid on her eyes. After that, there had only been his voice, cold and mocking, and his arms holding her against the rough wall effortlessly.

_"Isn't friendship a wonderful thing, Anzu? It brought you to where you are today. You should do your best to thank them. All of you stayed together through danger and fear and madness, after all. You saved the world together. That's something to be proud of."_

Anzu wasn't sure what it was that had attacked her. It was as if someone had borrowed Yugi's face for a little while...

She shuddered in remembered fear, struggled to let her mind drift again. _Yugi...I want to think of my friend, the one who kissed me in the tree, the one who taught everyone he met kindness, the one who fought to become stronger, to show himself and everyone else the strength that comes of a happy smile and a heart that loves._

He was so _bright_ in her mind, the light that had patiently waited, hiding while the darkness surfaced. Both were hard to see; Yami was always so dark, so hidden, so mysterious that Anzu wondered if she had ever stood a chance of not falling in love with him. On the other side was Yugi, who had never hidden anything, so bright that it had hidden him, too. No one could really look at him, especially not with Yami there, their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

And then he had defeated Yami, fought against Atem in the Ceremonial Duel, the Duel that decided the Pharaoh's fate to move on to whatever lies beyond death. Suddenly, it was Yugi, not Yami or the Other Yugi or Atem or the Pharaoh. Just Yugi. Anzu had gradually come to realize that the Dark was strong, but dark only exists where light isn't. Yugi was far stronger than Yami, and always had been. It was just that no one, not even Yugi, had realized it until they fought. Sometime when Yami had been fighting, somewhere between Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom and the fight for Yami's name in his world of memories, Yugi had realized how strong he was.

Anzu thought of that day in the park, when she and Yugi had kissed. Memory had enhanced, it seemed, the things she hadn't noticed at the time, since she was too distracted by the shock of the event. She remembered the soft light, making green shadows and little dapples of light on Yugi's arms and chest, and one that lit up his ear. The slightest expressions on his face, a faint line here, a tiny lift of his eyebrows in surprise.

Her cracked lips stretched as far as they could into a smile, remembering the soft feel of his fingertips on her neck, shy but strong, while she felt herself blushing furiously.

"Anzu?"

A shock of cold gripped her spine, freezing the memory and shooting a more recent one through her brain.

_Fingers clenched around my neck, my wrists. A "hm" as he holds me, fire dripping down my arm, down my face from my eyes, crying acid tears..._

With some effort, Anzu made herself calm down. How could she ever hope to recover if she freaked out every time she heard Yugi's voice? Every time he touched her? She wanted him to touch her. The ache in her whole body sharpened.

Soft footsteps approached the right side of her bed, and she turned her head to follow the sound. "It's okay, Anzu," he said quietly, every word making her hurt but making her so..._happy._ "I'm here to take care of you. Everything's going to be alright."

She wanted to ask him if he came alone, or if Jou and Honda had come with him. Part of her wanted to hear Jou say something stupid and comforting, and part of her wanted it just to be Yugi.

"Anzu, is it alright if I hold your hand?"

Straining, she nodded her head as well as the bandages and tubes would allow, and she felt his cool fingers against her skin. She held his hand tight for just a moment, then relaxed, knowing he had felt how much she was glad he was there.

"Anzu," he whispered, and the sound of her name alone made her tremble. She could see him so well in her mind, so bright she couldn't look at him. Too beautiful to see.

"I'm so glad you're alive, Anzu," he whispered. She thought, for a moment, it sounded like he was trying not to cry. She tried giving his hand another squeeze, to reassure him. He strengthened his own grip in response.

"Anzu, is...is it alright if I touch your face?"

He was being so gentle, so careful, making sure that nothing he did startled her. She gave another painful nod, and she heard him shift, felt his hand adjust as he stood slightly. His breath drifted over her face, sweet and reassuring. Yet...she still had to fight back a small twinge of fear, a small memory of pain. She didn't want to think about pain right now.

"Everything's okay, Anzu," he said softly, and she felt the gentle brush of his lips against her cheek, just in front of her ear, where her skin hadn't been burned.

"I'm going to take care of you, Anzu. I'm so glad you survived..."

A cold thought crept to the front of her mind like something crawling from beneath a headstone. Something had worn Yugi's face to attack her. Someone had worn it like a mask to hide a reality that was darker than death. Older memories surfaced, of Death T, and the Ferris wheel, and Ushio, and the Player Killer at Duelist Kingdom. Faintly, Anzu heard one of the machines begin beeping frantically.

"I'm here to give you an unholy send-off..."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"...We're sorry to say that she's passed away. She took a sudden turn for the worse. We did our best to stabilize her, but there was nothing we could do."

Jounochi gave a nod that was more of a sharp jerk of his head, even though the nurse on the other end obviously couldn't see him. "Thank you." He hung up before she could say anything else, the baleful golden stare unnerving him.

It was odd, really. Jou hadn't had time to stop and think about what was going on. Honda's death hadn't sunk in, yet, and the attack on Anzu had left him shaken, but now...

Anzu was dead. Honda was dead. Yugi's grandpa was dead. Bakura was in the hospital, and it was pretty obvious that something had happened to Kaiba. People were being ripped away, and apart.

He tried not to think of how Honda had been ripped apart.

He felt sick, the room slowly spinning around him as he sank to his knees, his head in his hands, and did his best to keep his breakfast in his stomach.

"Jou?" That was Yugi, his voice full of concern. Jou shied away from the heat the puzzle gave off.

"Anzu's dead."

He felt Yugi flinch away, the two words striking at his friend like the crack of a whip. Jou ignored the harsh, strained sound of Yugi's breathing for the moment, slightly more concerned over whether or not he was actually going to be sick.

"Maybe we should go..." Otogi said quietly.

"No," Kaiba snapped, stepping purposefully around the Duel arena. "No one's going anywhere until I get some kind of explanation."

"People are dying, Kaiba!" Otogi responded.

"He deserves an explanation of some kind," Marik interrupted. He faced Kaiba. "Even if he won't believe it. No such thing as magic, right Kaiba?"

"Shut up. I'll decide for myself what I believe. Just tell me."

There was a pause, the kind of pause that stretches out and gains its own existence, even though if timed with a stop watch it would only last a second and a half.

"Other me," Yugi whispered. "Other me, Anzu's gone."

Everyone shifted to stare at Yugi, though Jou was sure his friend didn't notice. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt, Yami." The puzzle met thier stares, unshaken.

Kaiba drew a quick breath that almost sounded like a gasp. "Ryou!"

Marik's head snapped back toward Kaiba. "You think it'll attack him again? Finish him off?"

Kaiba snarled. "You are all coming with me. You can try to explain on our way."

Jou scrambled to help Marik support the semi-concious Bakura and followed Kaiba towards his limo parked outside in the odd summer chill.

* * *

If I'm counting in my head correctly and not forgetting anyone, that brings our death toll as stated in the text up to around twenty-four. I may have forgotten someone, but I think I counted them all. I'll have to go back and check.

.

.

.

Read everything carefully :)


	23. The Smile When You Tore Me Apart

Guess what! I realized as I was writing chapter 24 that there was a BIG GAPING HOLE IN MY BEAUTIFUL FORESHADOWING!!!111 Seriously! I came up with an AMAZING way to end chapter 24, only to realize that I have only foreshadowed a certain aspect of the story ONCE...**_VERY_** VAGUELY...in a DREAM SEQUENCE... so that the beautiful ending I came up with wouldn't make any sense even AFTER you've figured out the mystery.

My solution? Well, I wasn't going to do anything :) Then Neonn pointed out that I could still change chapter content, so I could go back and _add stuff in._ So, this is why the update was a little later than I thought it would be. Hurray! There's a new little scene in chapter 2, and new snippets in chapters 7, 14 and 20.

**pride1289 -** Most of those twenty-four deaths came from those cultists that got eaten when Marik summoned the Faceless Chaos. :) Upon re-reading, though, I never actually said that some deaths happened that in my head I knew happened...y'know? Ah, well. Then there's Ryou's dad, Yugi's Grandpa, Ishizu, Rishid, Honda, Miho, Honda, and Anzu. As for the rest...well..aren't you glad you pm'd me your predictions? Right? ..._RIGHT!?_

**misssun1 - **Disturbingly brilliant...or brilliantly disturbing? XD Don't worry about me losing my muses. The story's almost done!

**KageNoNeko - **Yay! I know what you mean about things just getting worse. I've been reading some fanfics by FerrisUlf, and I could swear she begins writing each chapter by saying "How can I make things worse than they already are? In fact, what can I have happen that _looks_ like a good thing but turns out to have _terrible_ repercussions?" Seriously...

**CrimsonZero - **Another comment that I'm brilliant and disturbing. Thank you very much! I think it's much better to get reviews that say I'm disturbing than reviews that say I'm 'kawaii!1 OMFG I totally 3 this', thouhg those are nice too, I suppose. As for Yugi...yeah. He's pretty much lost it. I'd suggest, though, that you pay attention to who's POV some of these scenes are from, though. Yugi knows perfectly well that the puzzle was lost over a year ago. :)

**x-hannah-banana-x - **Wow! Thank you! I find it very much a compliment that I made you cry:) Believe me when I say that I am particularly proud of the way I killed her off. Maybe to make it up to her I'll write a happy one-shot for her. Maybe.

This chapter is brought to you by cheese and Channing Tatum's abs. He is really hot and makes good motivation for writing:) I don't own Yugioh.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: ****The Smile When You Tore Me Apart  
**

The limo ride was short and tense, the air nearly solid with fear. Marik tried to take a few deep breaths, hoping to restore some sense of safety or at least make his head stop spinning. There was no way Bakura could have banished the Crawling Chaos on his own, and so he had used some of Marik's strength, as well. As much as Marik wanted to chew the thief out for not warning him, he knew that a warning was not the best thing at the time.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Bakura suddenly grabbed his hand, warm, calloused fingers holding so tight it made Marik wince.

"I'm sorry," Bakura said softly, his voice barely reaching Marik's ears. The thief sat hunched over, his long hair obscuring his face. "I'm sorry you hurt so much...Marik."

Marik stared at Bakura, his heart pounding in his ears while his stomach tried to tie itself in knots. "Bakura..."

"If it ever hurts too much, you should go down the stairs. And then to the butcher. He makes things better."

Looking down at their hands, Marik tried to keep breathing normally, even though it felt like he'd been sucker punched in the gut. The thing that hurt the most was seeing Bakura like this. Moments of clarity were snatched away in seconds, before Marik could grab a hold of them. He missed how things had been when he first met Bakura. The crazy thief hadn't been too crazy to laugh with, or plot with, or even just understand a little.

Bakura stared out the window, muttering under his breath. "The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker. That's what little girls are made of. Ha."

The limo slowed and finally stopped in front of the Kaiba Mansion. Marik couldn't help staring out the window at the vast green gardens and the towering, castle-like house. He felt certain he would get horribly lost in there. Bakura's hand slipped from his as they followed Kaiba and the rest out of the limo, and Marik made a mental note to not let Bakura stray too far. There was no telling _what_ could end up in the thief's pockets.

Kaiba strode forcefully into his mansion, Yugi, Jou, and Otogi drifting in his wake, and Marik and Bakura following behind. Servants bowed as they passed, pale and nervous. Marik saw more than one face with dark, sleepless circles under their eyes.

On the second story, down a long hall, Kaiba led them into a spacious room that managed to make itself seem smaller than it actually was. Thick carpet deadened their footsteps as they entered, leaving an undisturbed silence. Wide windows looked out on more gardens, letting in wide stretches of pale sunlight, cut by small darknesses. On the other side of the room, propped up against several pillows, a thin, fragile figure lay in a bed that seemed too small for the large room.

Marik saw the tension leave Kaiba's shoulders, felt everyone relax as they saw Ryou's soft grey eyes look up at them.

"Seto?" Ryou said, his voice barely audible.

Kaiba breathed a sigh of relief. Bakura, on the other hand, let loose a low, feral snarl. He shoved Otogi out of the way and stepped past Kaiba, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Get away from him," Bakura hissed.

Marik sighed. Honestly. Was it too much too ask that Bakura go for fifteen minutes without hallucinating?

A light, gay laugh rippled through the air, making goosebumps stand out on Marik's arms. His eyes widened, darting around the room, searching for the source of the laughter.

"You've gotten very good, Thief King. I can't hide from you like I used to."

There, lounging in an armchair right next to Ryou's bed. It had been there the whole time, Marik realized, just not letting them notice.

The figure stood, an indescribable grace lingering in the movement. An effortless, inherent pride outlined its stance, its dark bronze skin flawless, its laughing, sunset red eyes watching them from across the room. There was something about its features that spoke of dark power, the power of a black god from Egypt, or perhaps a fallen archangel. It wore a white button-up shirt and black jeans as kingly attire, as well it might, for it looked every inch an ancient king. A Pharaoh.

As soon as Marik recognized the face the Crawling Chaos had chosen, he reached out to grab Yugi. Otogi and Jou reacted first, however, each grabbing one of Yugi's arms.

"Yami?" Yugi breathed, not even noticing that he was restrained. "Other me?" The hikari was shaking, Otogi and Jou having to brace themselves against Yugi throwing himself forward.

The thing smiled a joyous, heartbreaking smile. "It's alright, Aibou. I promise we'll be together."

"Shut up," Bakura snapped angrily. "And get away from my host."

The thing that looked like the Pharaoh laughed. "Or what? You'll banish me again? Another attempt would kill you, Thief King." It put up its hands in a surrendering guesture. "Besides, I just wanted to talk to Bakura again." It smiled over his shoulder at Ryou. The white-haired boy looked even more pale than normal, his eyes wide and his mouth set in a thin line.

"Tch. Whatever," Bakura said. "I have fuzzy kittens on my side."

The Crawling Chaos laughed again, its teeth white against its dark skin. "Poor Thief King. His mind just isn't what it used to be. That's what comes of trying to fight me." Its expression grew curious. "And of dying and returning so often. How many times have you died, now?"

Bakura shrugged. "Depends on what you count as dying."

"Well, then," said the thing that looked like the Pharaoh. "I guess the next time I see you, I'll escort you to the afterlife myself, just to make sure you stay there."

It turned towards Kaiba. "Well, Little Dragon-Child, it's been nice seeing you again. We really must keep in better touch." It smiled. "I don't think you have my cell number. I'll give it to your butler on the way out."

Kaiba remained silent, his eyes narrowed as he met the thing's gaze.

The thing laughed once more, the sound clear and pure. "It's a fearful thing to love what death can touch, isn't it, Little Dragon-Child? Does it hurt, the things I have done to you? I wonder if this primitive barking noise you call language can really convey how much it hurts...neh?"

The Crawling Chaos passed Kaiba and stopped in front of Yugi. Its expression grew soft, looking into Yugi's eyes. "Everything will be okay, Aibou," it whispered. "You won't be alone anymore."

Then it looked at Marik, and the Egyptian felt some of the raw, unbridled force of the thing's presence slam against his mind. It stepped toward him, and more than anything Marik wanted to run. He wanted to run away, leave behind this room, those eyes, these people, this world...

"My offer still stands, Marik-Who-Would-Be-King," it whispered. "Will you accept? Will you save the world from me, over and over until man is dead and the Great Old Ones walk the earth unhindered by stars and sleep?"

The room was spinning, and Marik's own breathing was too loud in his own ears. As close as the thing was, Marik could feel the rancid heat of decay emanating from it. He shook his head frantically, nearly knocking himself over. "The last thing I want," he whispered harshly. "Is to be trapped."

The thing's red eyes glowed. "You know how to summon me," it whispered. "You know the road to power."

It strode toward the door, then turned, a languid mirth quirking its mouth. "Don't forget to text me, Kaiba." It winked, and walked out into the hall and out of sight.

The silence that followed felt like the silence of a tomb, broken only by the blasphemous breathings of those who would soon join in the mouldering dark.

It was Kaiba who broke through the lingering spell of the thing's presense, moving his limbs awkwardly and heavily towards the door to peer around the frame.

"Gone," the CEO breathed. Marik could see beads of sweat standing out on Kaiba's forehead. "You guys believe me now?"

Marik blinked, still fighting to regain some thoughts. "Believe you?"

"Yes," Kaiba snarled. "I said the other Yugi was still alive, and I was right! He's the one that attacked Ryou!"

Marik shook his head. "You've got it wrong, Kaiba. That thing wasn't the other Yugi. It was just wearing his face."

Kaiba scowled. "I know what I felt. That was the other Yugi."

"No it wasn't!" Jou burst out from behind Marik. "That wasn't Yami! Don't you get it, Kaiba? This thing...well, I'm not sure what it is, but it's been killing us, one by one, and we have to find a way to stop it, together!"

Jou's face was flushed red with anger, his fists clenched at his sides. Marik looked past him, at Yugi. The other hikari's face was pale, and his lips moved silently as he stared at nothing. Marik wondered if the thing had been wearing away at Yugi's mind, too, like a grindstone at a blade, smoothing away resistance and rational thought...

Kaiba brushed past him, interrupting his thoughts. The tall brunette made his way over to Ryou's bed carefully, though Marik figured he didn't need to bother. Ryou had already passed out again, his deathgrip on the blankets relaxing, though his face still looked as if he were in pain, even in sleep.

"Kaiba?" Marik said quietly. "How did it attack Ryou?"

Kaiba turned, his usual scowl on his face. Marik thought he saw something else, though. Kaiba was terrified, and his iron-strong confidence was beginning to break as events unravelled around him.

"Ryou and I became...well...friends over the summer," Kaiba said, carefully watching their expressions. "Yesterday he let me know he was going over to Yugi's house and that I was invited, too. Since I've gotten to know Yugi better, too, I thought nothing of it."

"Wait," Jou interrupted, his hand half in the air like he was asking a question at school. "Wait...wait a minute. Since you've gotten to know Yugi better?"

"Yeah." Kaiba tipped his head slightly, a mocking tone entering his voice. "He didn't tell you he got a job working for me, mutt?"

Yugi's head lifted, his eyes staring at Kaiba. "I don't work for you," he said incredulously.

Kaiba frowned. "Yes you do. You're on my payroll. You've been working for me all summer. You never missed a day until yesterday."

Yugi stared at Kaiba, his mouth slightly open. "No," he said slowly. "I never got a job this summer, especially not working for you."

A sick, horrifying feeling writhed in the pit of Marik's stomach.

"Marik," Jou said slowly. "How long ago did you summon this thing?"

It couldn't be. This had to be some sort of nightmare. A viscous, thick chill slipped down his spine, his breath coming in short, uneven gasps.

"About two weeks ago," Bakura whispered. "I've been dreamless for two weeks. Do you have any lemonade, Priest?"

Marik finally found his voice. "It's been here since before I summoned it," he whispered shakily. "It's been here all along."

* * *

Remember clear back when Shadi showed up for like three paragraphs? He said some interesting things to Honda. Some of the most interesting things would probably be along the lines of "I serve the Pharaoh of Darkness", "The enemy is one you have met before", and "The Pharaoh is in danger."

I wonder what on earth he could have meant by those statements...

Like I said...read everything carefully.


	24. The Dreams In Which I'm Dying

**KageNoNeko - **You're right. Your sentence was just ambiguous enough that I'm not sure _how much_ you're right about, but you're right.

**pride1289 - **lol. The formatting or something on reviews made it so that your review only has, liek, about 10 words:) For one who claims to not be reading carefully, you do seem to think you get it. And you do come up with fun predictions that have almost no possibility of actually happening because I'm mean to the characters in this story. As for this chapter being filler...[sarcasm]of course it's filler! In fact, 90% of this story is filler stuff that has no bearing whatsoever on the plot. I just kind of wrote stuff as I thought it up, with absolutely no planning. In fact, there's not even a plot! [/sarcasm] On a more serious note, this chapter can't be filler because it is the last chapter:)

**Hikari Kame - **Thank you! I do appreciate your reviews. They make me feel like an awesome writer.

**ScarlettKuasta - **Yes! Reread! Carefully! And I love Bakura's nonsense, too. It all makes perfect sense in his head. Look for even more of it this chapter. It's good that you have questions! The answers _can_ be found! Hurray for anticipation! And I take it as the highest compliment that this fic gives you nightmares. I would much rather have a few readers tell me my story is disturbing and nightmarish than hundreds of reviewers telling me my story is cute and fun and happy:)

Yes, dear readers. This is, in fact, the last chapter. I'll probably have the two-part epilogue up by tomorrow. It's almost done! I didn't finish before school started, but I did finish before September.

A few things I would like to say here, instead of the end of the chapter, just so that I don't detract from my awesome ending XD It's certainly been a fun ride, hasn't it? Well, fun in a scary way. It looks like my first attempt at writing horror was at least mostly a success.

I have decided I feel like giving you guys one last clue. A clue that at first I was going to put in the summary. And then in my author's notes before the first chapter. And then the end of the first chapter. And then the end of the fourth chapter. Finally, I just decided I would wait until the end to see if anyone would figure it out during the story.

This story is a crossover.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four: ****The Dreams In Which I'm Dying Are The Best I've Ever Had**

Yugi barely heard the voices that drifted around him after the departure of his other self. His mind was empty, too empty to hear, to think.

"How can I live like this?" he whispered softly to himself. "I'm not strong enough for this."

_I'm sorry, Aibou, that I had to leave you, even for a little while._

Something was wrong. Something was dreadfully, horribly _wrong_.

If this...this _thing_ that Marik had summoned had been here all summer, then not only was it the thing that killed Honda and Anzu, but it had probably killed Grandpa, too. The pattern fit.

Yugi looked up at the Thief King, who was watching everyone in the room impassively. To be perfectly honest, he scared Yugi. There was a feeling that hung in the air about him, almost like a scent. He was more powerful than any time they had met him before, and...

Why? Why had the Thief King gone to such great lengths to find his former host?

Why was Bakura blessed with a Yami who fought to return to him, while Yugi's never did?

The thief caught Yugi's stare, and met it with a glare of his own. "What are you looking at, Pharaoh?" he sneered.

Yugi heard Marik sigh, a regular occurrence lately, while the thief turned sharply on Kaiba.

"What did that thing do to my host, Priest?"

Kaiba paled. "I-I'm not a priest, idiot!" he snarled.

Yugi stared at him. Since when did Kaiba _stutter_?

The Thief King grinned and cast a slow, lazy look around the room. "You're right. My bad. You have lost your stairs. What happened to my host?"

_"What has happened to Mahaad?" Atem asked quietly, dreading the response._

_"As the sun rose, the image on the stone..."_

_"Nevermind that! What of the Thief King?"_

"Nevermind that!" Kaiba snapped. "What are we supposed to do next, wait around until it comes after us again?"

Something was wrong. Yugi looked at the faces around him. They all looked pale and frightened. There was no joy in their fear, either. This was, simply, the fear of death. And of the unknown.

"There has to be something we can do!" Jounochi shouted. "There has to be some way that we can fight this!"

_"We cannot stand around and do nothing, my King!" Priest Set cried out._

Yugi's mind moved restlessly from thought to thought, turning over the details of the things they had been through, the deaths and the cryptic messages.

"It's been toying with us," Marik said quietly, sinking into a chair and putting his head in his hands. "It's just playing with us. It doesn't have anything to fear from us."

Yugi closed his eyes, feeling in his heart that there had to be something wrong in what Marik was saying. The thing had come after them one at a time, laying traps and watching them closely. The messages it had left...

The Dark Magician in Grandpa's mouth. The drawing of the Millennium Puzzle on the ceiling. The cryptic verses scrawled on Honda's door and on the wall. Atem's name down Anzu's arms and legs. It felt like his stomach was twisting in knots. There had to be something they were missing.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Otogi was beginning to wonder if involving himself in whatever misadventure this had turned into wasn't one of the dumbest things he'd ever done. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. A dull one.

"What about Set?" Jounochi questioned, desperation in his voice. "Those weird words it left for us when it killed Honda?"

Otogi frowned. "Why would it leave clues for us to find it?" Honestly the whole thing was starting to give him a headache. He rubbed anxiously at the back of his neck.

"Because it knows we can't hurt it," Marik said. "And it makes sense. Set is a god of Chaos, and it's certainly caused a great deal."

Slowly, everyone looked toward Kaiba.

The tall CEO scowled. "Look. Just because my name has a passing resemblance to some bogus Egyptian deity does not mean that I've been going around killing people. I am not a murderer."

"We have to look at all the options, Kaiba," Marik interjected. "Maybe it's been controlling you without your knowledge. Maybe..."

"Enough!" Kaiba shouted. "I know it isn't me! I can't be in two places at once! How do we know it isn't you, Marik? You're the one with a psychopathic split personality!"

"Kaiba's right," Yugi said quietly.

Marik froze, his eyes wide and frightened. Otogi slowly inched himself closer to the window, figuring he could jump out if bullets or knives or cards started flying across the room.

"Kaiba's right," Yugi repeated. "Just because his name is the same it doesn't make him responsible. Just because Priest Set was named after the god of Chaos doesn't mean he was the Priest _of_ Set." He paused. "Kaiba? Where's the nearest bathroom?"

Kaiba stared at his rival for a moment before sneering condescendingly. "Down the hall to the right, third door on the left."

Yugi nodded wearily and walked toward the door to the hallway. Jounochi took a step towards him, as if to follow.

"Not so fast, mutt!" Kaiba snapped. "You realize you just accused me of murder, among other things, right?"

Jou whirled, his eyes angry and wild. "Yeah? So? Everyone's a suspect at this point."

Kaiba smirked. "Oh? In that case, mutt, do you have an alibi for Yugi's Grandfather's death? Where were you, exactly, when your friends were attacked?"

Otogi was wondering if he should try to step between them or let them just shout at each other and let things escalate. Marik, however, decided much more quickly.

"Shut up!" Marik yelled, pounding his fist on the chair's arm. "We're not going to be able to figure anything out by just shouting and throwing around accusations. You are all _so_ lucky I don't have the Rod anymore."

In the brief silence that followed, Otogi tried to take stock of the people in the room. Kaiba had placed himself solidly between the bed and everyone else, with Marik in an armchair near the door and Jounochi pacing around like a dog in a kennel. Otogi had his back to the window, the door straight across from him. Yugi had just left, and Bakura...

"Bakura..." Marik said weakly. "What are you doing?"

The thief had somehow ended up next to the bed, in the very chair the...thing had been sitting in. His long, tan fingers trailed through his other self's hair, his grey eyes fixated on the loose braid he was weaving.

Kaiba drew in a low, hissed breath. For a moment, Otogi was sure the CEO was going to pull out another gun. Instead, he let out his breath and visibly forced himself to relax. "Who are you, exactly?" he demanded of Bakura.

The thief shrugged. "Well, I was pretty sure I was the King of Thieves, but if you're not a Priest and the shrimp isn't the Pharaoh that would make me..." He paused, his fingers relaxing as he let his hand fall to the bed covers. "Bruce Wayne."

Otogi couldn't help it. The laughter burst out of him, making him double over, holding his stomach. He laughed so hard he felt his face turning red and he had to wipe tears away. Damn, it hurt to laugh so hard.

"Tch," he heard Kaiba say over his laughter. "I think you guys had better start getting me filled in on what's going on, before the dice freak over there has an aneurysm."

"Well," Jounochi said quietly as Otogi's laughter began to die down. "About a month ago, Yugi's grandfather was murdered. Someone broke into the shop and killed him."

"What was the cause of death?" Marik asked.

Jounochi paled. "Loss of blood. The...the murder weapon was Yugi's old deck, the one the Other Yugi used during Battle City. Minus the god cards."

Marik's eyes were wide. "The _entire_ deck?"

Jou nodded. "Yeah. The cards had been stabbed into him all over. Yugi found him like that."

Kaiba rolled his eyes dramatically. "Yeah. That's not weird at all. You'd think a freak attack like that would be all over the news."

Jou blinked. "It wasn't? There were interviews from journalists and stuff."

Kaiba shook his head. "This is the first I've heard of this, and I keep track of what happens in my city."

The door opened and Yugi walked in. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

Jou shrugged. "Just catching Kaiba up on what's been going on." He turned back to Kaiba. "I was on vacation with Mai. You know her, from the Battle City Finals? I only got back like a week ago."

Yugi nodded as he chose a chair for himself next to Marik. "That's right. Jou was out of town." The light from the window behind Otogi reflected brightly in his violet eyes, making them stand out sharply against his pale skin. "That was when Honda said he found stuff at the library."

"What sorts of things?" Marik asked.

"Dunno," Jou said with a shrug. "Something about a cult that worshiped submarines or something like that. Under the ocean."

"Wow, mutt," Kaiba said dryly. "Do we owe that gem of insight to your brilliant intelligence or your dead friend?"

Jou growled. "Watch it, moneybags..."

The door opened and Yugi walked in. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

Jou shrugged. "Just catching Kaiba up on what's been..."

It took Otogi a fraction of a second longer to realize why Jou had trailed off. That fraction of a second was enough to give him a head start on both Kaiba and Marik, who took an entire second to realize why they had a sudden case of _deja vu_.

"Other me?" Yugi whispered, taking a step forwards. Jou grabbed his wrist, his face white with fear.

"...other me..." Yugi breathed, his eyes wide as he stood in the doorway.

A stream of vehement, venomous curses escaped Kaiba. Marik hesitated for just a moment before he stood and darted to Yugi's side, his fingers around Yugi's arm as they stood. Marik's eyes were wide with fright, and his face was pale beneath his tan.

Fear, Otogi was beginning to realize, was ugly. Scary movie fear was one thing. That kind of fear made you jump at odd sounds and make your heart pound and make you laugh about it with your friends later. This kind of fear was different. This fear had been stalking them, slowly ensnaring them in doubt and a quiet, gut-wrenching sick kind of feeling.

This fear was where the fear of the unknown collided with the fear of someone you have let become too close to you.

The two Yugis facing each other were exactly identical in every detail of their appearance. One of them was a friend, and one of them was some sort of monster capable of killing them all in horrible ways.

Then the thought occurred to Otogi that there was no way of knowing if one of them _was_ their friend. Maybe this thing could split itself in two.

The Yugi Jou held on to let out a small, pained whimper. "Other me!" he shouted, pulling against Jou's hold. "Other me! You came back!"

Otogi could see the other Yugi's eyes grow wide and his hands start to shake. "Other me..." he whispered. "I..."

"Dammit," Kaiba cursed, his fists clenched at his sides as he stood. Otogi imagined Kaiba felt nearly as helpless as himself at the moment.

Jou's lips moved, and it took a second for Otogi to make out the words. "Tears of yellow, darker than death; fears of the fellow, N-"

He was cut off as he was forced to grab Yugi with both hands, the smaller Duelist attempting to throw himself forward now. "Other me, it's me!" he yelled, struggling against Jounochi. "It's me, your partner, your Aibou!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Marik could feel his mind growing numb, the impossible reality outside him playing out somewhere where it couldn't affect him. His hand was starting to fall asleep, too, where he held Yugi's arm. It nearly made him start laughing, the realization of how impossible their situation was. How where they supposed to tell which Yugi was the threat? This thing had slipped in and out of faces, wearing each as a mask. He himself had mistaken the thing for his own yami.

The other Yugi lunged at the Yugi that Marik held, Jou barely holding him back. "Other me, it's me! It's me, your partner, your Aibou!"

The last of the sand trickled to the bottom of the hourglass. Marik could feel the heat of the skin under his hand, burning up all the panic that had overwhelmed him. It burned away everything save a last few thoughts that clicked into place like the last pieces of the puzzle.

Wearing away at Yugi, wearing down his mind and resistance.

The Crawling Chaos was a shapeshifter, capable of assuming many guises, but it was not human.

The mask was imperfect.

As if sensing his thoughts, which Marik guessed it probably could, the Yugi whose arm he held shifted slightly, and Marik saw his gaze dart to meet his own. Yugi's eyes were wide and frightened, but Marik saw just the faintest flash of something...old. Kaiba saw the movement, and his hand reached for the pocket of his trenchcoat.

Bakura was just slightly faster. From the corner of his eye, he saw the thief slip up behind Kaiba and relieve the CEO of the gun he still carried.

For just a split second Marik saw the flash of metal, the darkness of the weapon pointed towards him. The shot was even louder than he remembered, possibly because it was closer. Loud enough that it hurt, that for a moment he was positive Bakura had hit him.

The thief shook with oddly quiet laughter, his mouth open in a wolfish grin, his whole body shaking. Marik could hear screaming in the distance, before his ears recovered from the shot and the screaming became a lot closer.

The wild, panicked screaming was coming from the other Yugi, the one Jou was now holding down. "Other me!" he shrieked, his voice cracking as he struggled madly against Jounochi. "No! OTHER ME!"

Bakura let out one final, barked laugh. "I've never been to Boston in the fall!" he declared before adding in a softer voice, "but I hear it's nice."

Shocked, Marik felt his spine turn to ice as Bakura deliberately pointed the muzzle of the gun at his own chin. Marik didn't have time to scream for himself before the trigger was pulled again, covering a stunned Kaiba, bed, and Ryou in blood and...other stuff. Marik closed his eyes. He didn't want to see. This...this couldn't be happening!

The arm he gripped grew heavy, dragging him down to his knees, since he couldn't quite get his fingers to obey him and let go. Everything was happening too fast.

Something tugged on his shirt, and he opened his eyes. Yugi...no...the monster they had been fighting was staring at him, its dark shirt wet with its own blood, plastering it to its skin. There was blood all over Marik, too, and he just knew he was going to be sick. Too much blood, too fast. Why did the thing have to bleed red, just like a regular human? Too much red.

A bright, achingly beautiful smile crossed the thing's face, not dimmed at all by the blood dripping from the corner of its mouth. Its eyes met Marik's and it whispered two words before it stopped moving altogether.

"I've won."


	25. Epilogue

This is totally tomorrow. Man, I fail at updating on a schedule.

All right, peeps. **This is the end of the line**! The end! Vamoose! Click the review button now and tell me what you think is happening _before_ you read the answers!

**pride1289 - **Both!

**Hikari Kame - **Yay! I feel so happy after reading your reviews! Thank you!

**KageNoNeko - **Hurray! Your head asplode!

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Epilogue 1: The Lunatic Is In My Head  
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The hot, late August sun continued its relentless assault against Kaiba's barricade of thick walls and expensive air-conditioning. He scowled slightly and adjusted his collar slightly, his only visible concession to the relentless heat outside being the absence of his favorite trenchcoat. A young, dark-skinned woman in a red blouse looked up from behind her desk as he strode towards his office.

"Kaiba-sama," she said respectfully. "You have a guest waiting for you in your office."

He grunted noncommittally. "Who?" he demanded.

"Yugi Mutou, Kaiba-sama."

_Great. Let them into your house once, and they think they can just waltz in and invade your space anytime._ Nevermind that the Yugi Mutou that had worked for him all summer regularly visited his office. That had apparently not been _the_ Yugi Mutou. Or the Other Yugi, which Kaiba was still finding difficult to swallow. Three Yugi Mutous was too many. Maybe someone who hated him had made a Yugi cloning machine, just to annoy him.

"Thanks, Nara," he nodded to the woman as he walked past and through his door. He smirked. The shocked look on her face was worth the uncharacteristic thanks.

Kaiba didn't bother turning on the lights. The tall, wide windows that took up one entire wall let in plenty of light, though at the moment the blinds were over them, failing to keep the intense heat entirely at bay. Yugi stood facing the windows, gazing out as if he could see the impressive view on the other side of the blinds. The small Duelist had grown a little over the summer, the white T-shirt he wore a little stretched across his shoulders. His eyes were dark, his expression solemn.

"What do you want?" Kaiba demanded, walking to his desk and switching on his computer. He ignored the tiny flash of pain on Yugi's face.

"I...I came to ask about Ryou."

Pain. All the pain Kaiba had been keeping away from himself came tearing back through him, fresh and undiminished. His limbs stopped obeying him for just a moment to freeze as a real, physical pain wracked its way through him. Two weeks. Two weeks since that nightmare in his mansion. Hours since...

"He's dead."

Yugi jerked back from the window in surprise, his eyes wide as he faced Kaiba. "What? But how...when?"

Kaiba forced himself to calmly look his fellow Duelist in the eye and graciously refrain from throwing something. Like Yugi. Out the window.

"Last night. I just got back from the hospital. He managed to slip out of his restraints, thanks to some idiot, careless intern or something." _I am_ so_ suing that hospital into the ground..._

But nothing could bring Ryou back.

Yugi could only meet his eyes for so long before looking away. "I'm sorry, Kaiba."

Kaiba snorted and sat in front of his computer. He couldn't grieve in front of Yugi, couldn't show weakness. Couldn't show how much Ryou actually meant to him. The best he could do was shun Yugi until the pipsqueak left.

"I...I thought you should know I finally took Jounochi to the hospital," Yugi said quietly. "They said they'll start trying out different medications to find one that will help him."

"Hm," Kaiba grunted. That was a relief. If he had been Yugi, he would have hauled the mutt to the loony farm the _first_ time Yugi got locked in the bathroom 'to protect the puzzle'. At least the mutt hadn't taken Yugi cell phone.

Yugi continued. "Otogi called me from Hawaii. He wants to set up some sort of partnership with Industrial Illusions."

Kaiba could help the scoffing sound that escaped him. "Turn him down, Yugi. His games aren't _that_ good."

Yugi smiled a little. "That's what I said. Well, kind of. A little nicer than that." He turned back to pretending he could see out the window. "And Marik's just...disappeared."

He sat there, waiting for Kaiba to say something about that. Kaiba ignored him and sat at his desk, opening the files he needed to work on. Yugi knew that Kaiba liked to keep track of things, but Kaiba really didn't think Yugi needed to know everything. Besides, the Psycho was harmless enough where he had ended up in Nowhere, Oklahoma.

A few minutes passed, the only sound the restless movement of Kaiba's fingers against the keyboard as he typed.

Yugi turned, a curious look in his eyes. "School starts next week," he said.

Kaiba didn't bother responding to the obvious.

"It's our last year before we graduate."

_Really? No way! We should have a parade, and then have a slumber party and talk about our feelings._

Yugi smiled. "Have you ever thought of starting your own school, Kaiba?"

**Epilogue 2: Remembering Games and Daisy Chains**

The caramel-flavored light flooded the cobblestone street, washing everything in its path in gold. The lilacs had just begun blooming, and their heavy, sweet scent carried an unshakable feeling of easy contentment. Atem sighed and smiled, leaning back in the porch-swing, making it rock slightly. The movement startled the fluffy black kitten in Bakura's lap, as Atem guessed from the quiet curse from the thief. Atem watched as Bakura attempted to loosen the kitten's claws from the fabric of his pants and re-engage it in playing with the duck feather used earlier.

For a moment, Atem couldn't help but feel incredibly sad. The white-haired thief was so different here, free from the tragedy and loss that had plagued him his whole life. Atem could see for himself, now, the still-innocent boy from the small village, knowing nothing but the close-knit ties of family and simple games and familiar faces.

Bakura smiled as the kitten tried to bite the feather. "What will you do now?" he asked, not looking at Atem.

Atem shivered. For just a moment, he replayed the last few minutes before his death in his mind, the sudden pain of knowledge, the realization that the only way he could ever win against the Crawling Chaos was to refuse to play the game, to remove himself from it.

Or have Bakura do it for him. It was a very good thing the thief had caught on, perceptive even under such strange circumstances, away from his dreams.

A deep sigh left the former Pharaoh. "I'm not sure," he admitted in response to Bakura's question. Many things he had thought to be false were true, and many truths were cobwebs. "I...I miss my friends." He turned towards Bakura. "I see now what you were doing, trying to tell Marik how to get here."

Bakura shrugged. "Sometimes he manages to not be a complete idiot. He might find his way here, still." He sent Atem a smirk. "As for you, well, you can do whatever you want!"

Atem shrugged. "Whatever I want isn't all that great a goal."

A low chuckle escaped Bakura as the kitten rolled on its back and batted at the feather. "You could go to Celephaïs, find a nice girl, settle down. Demi-gods are all the rage, there."

Atem laughed. It felt good to laugh, sitting there on the porch with Bakura, wondering if they would ever see Marik come walking up the street to join them, smelling the lilacs. They would watch the stars come out, and Bakura would saunter down the street and bring back a pitcher of lemonade and a bag of scraps from the butcher shop for the cats. Then they would drink lemonade and tell stories and breathe in the sweet air while the windows spilled candlelight all over the cobblestones and joke about how long it took Marik to get there.

Atem decided that Bakura really had the best dreams.

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multiple exclamation marks= a sure sign of an unstable mind

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**Author's Note: The Epic Explanation**

I know you've all been waiting for it, the answer to the puzzle/mystery/what the crap is going on that I took great delight in setting up for you. Ready?

Puzzle piece #1 - Hello, Darkness is a crossover with a body of stories known as the Cthulhu Mythos, the brain-child of H.P. Lovecraft and several other authors.

Puzzle Piece #2 - The Big Bad is an entity from the Mythos known as Nyarlathotep. Go ahead. Google him. I dare you:)

Puzzle Piece #3 - Yugi Mutou is the Pharaoh Atem reincarnated. This is the information that I realized in 23/24 I hadn't foreshadowed enough. This may seem like obvious information but I felt it needed a little reinforcement since...

Puzzle Piece #4 - Yami Yugi is Nyarlathotep. Just think about that for a little bit. Did you look up Nyarlathotep? Do you realize what that _means_? It means that Kaiba, Otogi, and Marik are _very_ lucky (or perhaps unlucky...) to be alive and sane at the end of this story.


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